A Delhi court on Friday ordered the release of social activist Medha Patkar just hours after she was arrested by the Delhi Police for failing to comply with a court directive in a defamation case filed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.

Additional Sessions Judge Vipin Kharb of the Saket Court granted Patkar bail after her counsel assured the court that she would submit the required bonds.

The case stems from a 2001 defamation suit filed by Saxena, then president of the National Council of Civil Liberties. The dispute originated from a 2000 advertisement by Saxena’s organisation criticizing Patkar’s Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). In response, Patkar issued a press note accusing Saxena of previously supporting the NBA and donating ₹40,000 to the movement—a cheque that allegedly bounced.

Saxena denied the allegations, stating he had neither visited Malegaon nor supported the NBA. He also rejected claims of issuing any cheque. The matter was initially filed in Ahmedabad but was transferred to Delhi in 2003 by the Supreme Court.

In 2023, a trial court convicted Patkar of defamation, sentencing her to five months in jail and imposing a ₹10 lakh fine. A sessions court later upheld the conviction but granted her relief from jail, on the condition she submitted probation bonds and paid a reduced fine of ₹1 lakh.

However, on April 23, the court found that Patkar had not complied with these conditions and was evading court hearings. It issued a non-bailable warrant and warned that the reduced sentence could be reconsidered. The court also dismissed Patkar’s plea to postpone further proceedings, criticizing it as "frivolous and mischievous."

Patkar had challenged her conviction before the Delhi High Court but withdrew the revision plea earlier today.

Meanwhile, Patkar has also filed a counter defamation case against Saxena, which is still under trial. The Delhi High Court recently asked the trial court to defer hearings in that matter until May 20, following Patkar’s petition to call additional witnesses.