New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday issued a non-bailable warrant against activist Medha Patkar, observing that she was deliberately flouting its sentencing order to submit probation bonds and Rs 1 lakh as fine in a defamation case filed by lieutenant governor VK Saxena in 2001.
Additional sessions judge Vishal Singh observed that instead of appearing before the court to comply with the sentencing of April 8, the 70-year-old social activist had remained absent and deliberately failed to comply with the order to avail of the benefit of probation subject to furnishing the compensation amount.
“The intention of the convict is apparent. She is deliberately violating the court order; she is avoiding appearing before the court and also avoiding accepting the terms of the sentence passed against her,” the judge said on Wednesday.
On April 8, the sessions court had released Patkar on “probation for good conduct” in the defamation case against Saxena, who headed an NGO in Gujarat in 2001. The sessions court modified the order of a magisterial court on July 1, 2024, sentencing her to five months of simple imprisonment. It asked her to deposit compensation of Rs 1 lakh, which was to be released to Saxena.
On Wednesday, Patkar was to have appeared in court, furnished the probation bonds and depositing the fine amount. The judge observed that Patkar’s plea seeking adjournment was “frivolous”, “mischievous” and filed with the intent to “hoodwink” the court. He warned Patkar that if she failed to comply with the terms of the sentencing, the court would be “constrained to reconsider the benevolent sentence and alter the order on the sentence”.
The court was left with no other alternative than to enforce her production through a coercive order, said judge Singh. “Issue non-bailable warrants against convict Medha Patkar through the office of the commissioner of police, Delhi Police, for the next hearing. Put up for report on NBWs and further proceedings on May 3,” the court directed.
The judge also dismissed Patkar’s application for adjournment on the grounds that her revision petition was pending in Delhi High Court. “The application has no substance; there is no direction in the order dated April 22 of Delhi High Court that the convict Medha Patkar is not required to comply with the order on sentence dated April 8. The present application is frivolous, mischievous, and is only calculated to hoodwink the court,” the court said.