Delhi court issues non-bailable warrant against Medha Patkar for not obeying verdict after conviction in defamation case by Delhi LG VK Saxena
A Delhi Court on Wednesday (24th April) issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against controversial activist Medha Patkar, who was convicted last year in a defamation case filed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. Issuing the NBW, Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh observed that Patkar deliberately violated the sentence order passed on 8th April and avoided court hearings following her conviction.
“Instead of appearing before the Court and to comply with the order on sentence dated 08/04/2025, the convict is absent and deliberately failed to comply with the order on sentence and to avail of the benefit of probation subject to furnishing of compensation amount,” the judge said.
The court said that it did not have an option but to take coercive action against her. “On the next date, if the convict fails to comply with the terms of the order on sentence dated 08/04/2025, the court will be constrained to reconsider the benevolent sentence and will have to alter the order on sentence,” the court order read. The court warned Patkar that if she failed to appear for the next hearing and did not comply with the order of sentence, then the court would reconsider her probation and alter the sentence order.
The Sessions judge also noted that Patkar had approached the Delhi High Court seeking directions for the deferment of the hearing at the Sessions Court, but her plea was dismissed. “The present application (asking for a stay on the execution of the probation bond) is frivolous and mischievous and is only calculated to hoodwink the Court. The present application is, therefore, dismissed,” the Sessions judge said. The next hearing of the case is on 3rd May.
Notably, Patkar was given a concession by the court in her sentence. Taking her age and ill-health into consideration, Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma of the Saket Court granted her a lighter punishment. Additionally, her sentencing was suspended for 30 days by the court. In May last year, she was sentenced to 5 months’ simple imprisonment and a fine of ₹10 lakh was imposed on her to be paid to LG Sxena. On 29th July last year, Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh suspended her sentence and granted her bail. She later secured a probation of good conduct after depositing ₹1 lakh on April 8, 2025.
What was the case?
Medha Patkar and Vinai Kumar Saxena have been involved in a legal battle since 2000 after Patkar filed a case against him for publishing ads against her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. In 2000, Saxena published an advertisement against Patkar’s Narmada Bachao Andolan, which was opposing the construction of dams over the Narmada River. Afterwards, Patkar issued a press notice against Saxena, which prompted Saxena to file a defamation suit against Patkar before a court in Ahmedabad in 2001. In 2003, the case was transferred to Delhi following the Supreme Court’s order.
The court convicted Patkar for defamation and noted that Patkar imputed that Saxena was “mortgaging the people of Gujarat and their resources before Bill Gates and Wolfensohn, and he was an agent of the Government of Gujarat”. The court order stated, “It is evident that the accused harboured a clear intention to defame the complainant through her press note, given the deliberate and calculated nature of her statements.”
The court further noted that the terms used by Patkar against Saxena were not only inflammatory but were also intended to provoke public outrage and diminish his esteem in the eyes of the community.
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