LG VK Saxena Defamation Case: Court orders to release Medha Patkar on probation of good conduct

The court passed the order in view of Patkar's age and the fact that she had no previous conviction or offence. She had challenged her conviction and a 5-month sentence in a defamation case filed by LG VK Saxena in 2001.

Social activist Medha Patkar appeared before the court via videoconferencing. An application for exemption was made on her behalf.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Vishal Singh passed the order after hearing submissions on the point of sentence to be awarded to Medha Patkar. The court said that the sentence must be commensurate with the offence. There is no ground to deny the convict the benefit of probation.

The court directed Medha Patkar to be released on probation for one year for good conduct and also reduced the compensation of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 lakh.

The court conveyed the order of the sentence to Medha Patkar, who was present via video conferencing. The court will upload a detailed order later in the day.

Earlier, her conviction was upheld by the session court on April 2.

She was convicted and sentenced to five months' imprisonment by the Magistrate court in a Defamation case filed by the incumbent LG, VK Saxena.

During arguements on sentence her counsel submitted she is of 70 years age, she was granted bail by the trial court. She is a renowned social activist.

On the other hand, VK Saxena's counsel, advocates Gajinder Kumar and Kiran Jai, submitted, "There should be deterrence. The idea is not to repeat the same thing. If she is a renowned social activist and therefore people follow her. The same mistake should not been repeated."

Her counsel Advocate Sridevi Pannikar said that the appeal against conviction is pending before the High Court. On the challenging sentence, we will decide once we get the order. (ANI)