New Delhi- Offering relief to activist Medha Patkar, a Delhi court on Friday ordered her release on furnishing a Probation Bond and payment of Rs one lakh compensation in a defamation case filed in 2001 by Delhi Lt Governor V.K. Saxena. The order came within hours of her arrest at a city railway station. In a related development, Patkar withdrew her plea from the Delhi High Court against the orders of lower courts.

A subordinate court ordered her release within hours of being arrested on her arrival at a Delhi railway station at 6 a.m. for being presented before a judge in the Saket district court complex. She was arrested to execute a non-bailable warrant (NDW) issued against her in the defamation case. The court had observed that she was deliberately flouting its sentencing order to submit probation bonds and Rs one lakh as fine in the defamation case. The Delhi court had on Wednesday issued an NBW against Patkar over her non-appearance and non-compliance with the sentence order in connection with the 2001 defamation case linked to developments in Ahmedabad, where Saxena headed an organisation called National Council of Civil Liberties. In 2001, Saxena filed two defamation suits against Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Patkar.

One pertained to allegedly derogatory remarks she made during a television interview, while the other involved a press statement. The legal tussle arose from an earlier suit filed by Patkar in 2000, accusing Saxena of publishing defamatory advertisements targeting her and the NBA. In the High Court on Friday, Patkar's counsel sought permission to withdraw her plea against the orders of the sessions court and the trial court, with the liberty to file a fresh petition, which was allowed by Justice Shalinder Kaur. "Counsel for the petitioner seeks to withdraw with liberty to file afresh. The petition is dismissed as withdrawn with liberty as prayed," Justice Kaur said.

Earlier, Additional Sessions Judge Vishal Singh of Saket court had 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. On April 8, Patkar was ordered to be released on probation of good conduct for a period of one year, subject to prior deposit of a compensation amount of Rs one lakh, to be released in favour of the complainant (Saxena). The appellate court had modified the order of the trial court, which sentenced Patkar to five months of simple imprisonment, apart from ordering her to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation to Saxena for the harm caused to his reputation. Advocates Gajinder Kumar, Kiran Jai, Chandra Shekhar, Drishti and Somya Arya, represented Saxena, before the court.