New Delhi: Social activist Medha Patkar was arrested Friday after failing to comply with a Delhi court’s order requiring her to submit a probation bond and pay a Rs 1 lakh fine. However, the court allowed her release the same day after she fulfilled its conditions.
Patkar, 70, is best known for her work in environmental and human rights movements. She is the founder of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA)—a movement she led against the construction of large dams on the Narmada, particularly the Sardar Sarovar Dam. She argued that the creation of the dams would displace thousands of tribal and rural families without adequate rehabilitation.
In addition to the Narmada issue, Patkar filed public interest litigations (PILs) against the Lavasa Hill City project in Maharashtra for alleged violation of environmental laws, and against slum demolitions in Mumbai’s Golibar area, where she advocated for the housing rights of slum dwellers. She also challenged the privatisation of sugar cooperatives in Maharashtra, alleging that public assets were being sold at undervalued prices to benefit private players and politicians.
In 2000, Patkar filed a defamation case against Vinai Kumar Saxena, then head of the Ahmedabad-based NGO National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), who has been serving as the 22nd Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi since 2022.
She accused him of publishing defamatory advertisements targeting her and the NBA. These ads alleged misuse of funds and misrepresentation by Patkar and the movement.
In response, Saxena filed two defamation suits against Patkar in 2001—one related to allegedly offensive comments she made during a television interview, and the other based on a press statement in which she was accused of making defamatory and personal attacks against him.
After nearly two decades of legal proceedings, on 24 May last year, a Delhi magistrate court found Patkar guilty of defamation.
Then on 1 July, she was sentenced to five months of simple imprisonment and fined Rs 10 lakh.
Later, in a significant development, the sessions court modified the sentence. On 8 April this year, the court granted Patkar the benefit of probation under the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958. Her jail sentence was suspended and she was placed on probation for one year. The court directed her to submit a probation bond and deposit Rs 1 lakh as compensation to Saxena.
However, when Patkar failed to comply with this directive, Delhi’s Saket Court issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against her on 24 April 2025, citing deliberate non-compliance.
A non-bailable warrant is issued when there is a risk that the accused might flee or avoid legal proceedings. It allows immediate arrest, and the accused cannot be released on bail automatically. Instead, custody is maintained until the court issues further directions.
Accordingly, Patkar was arrested by Delhi Police early Friday for not furnishing the probation bond and failing to pay the Rs 1 lakh compensation, as directed on 8 April.
The court order stated: “Instead of appearing before the court to comply with the order on sentence dated April 8, the convict (Patkar) is absent and has deliberately failed to comply with the order on sentence and to avail of the benefit of probation subject to furnishing of the compensation amount.”
“The intention of the convict is apparent that 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. There is no order of suspension of sentence passed by this court on April 8,” Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh noted.
Simultaneously, Judge Singh rejected Patkar’s request to delay court proceedings, stating that her reasoning—a pending petition in the Delhi High Court—lacked validity. He clarified that the High Court had not granted her any exemption from or permission to delay the sentence issued 8 April. He called her application “frivolous and misleading”, suggesting it was an attempt to mislead the court, and dismissed the request.
During court proceedings following her arrest, Patkar’s lawyer informed the judge that she had been on her way to comply with the court’s directives—i.e., to submit the bond and make the payment—at the time of her arrest.
Once Patkar fulfilled the court’s conditions, the judge saw no reason to keep her in custody. She was consequently released the same day.
Ruchi Bhattar is an intern with ThePrint.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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