Overview

• Medha Patkar, leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, was arrested on April 25, 2025, by Delhi Police under a non-bailable warrant.
• The warrant was issued after she failed to fulfill probation conditions, including paying a ₹1 lakh fine and furnishing bonds, by the April 23, 2025 deadline.
• The defamation case dates back to 2000, when Patkar accused V K Saxena, then head of the National Council of Civil Liberties, of financial misconduct and undermining Gujarat’s interests in a press release.
• In May 2024, a magisterial court found Patkar guilty of defamation and sentenced her to five months' imprisonment, later converted to probation by Judge Vishal Singh in April 2025.
• Patkar is now set to appear before the Saket sessions court as enforcement of judicial orders intensifies in the long-running legal dispute.