A court here on Monday suspended the sentence of five months' simple imprisonment awarded to Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar in a defamation case filed against her by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena 23 years ago, when he headed an NGO in Gujarat.

On an appeal filed by Patkar, Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma suspended the sentence and also issued a notice to the opposite party (LG), Saxena's counsel Gajinder Kumar said.

The court also granted bail to Patkar on a bail bond and surety bond of Rs 25,000, he said.

Kumar, who received the notice, said a reply has to be filed before the next date of hearing in the matter on September 4.

The court had sentenced Patkar to jail on July 1.

The court had convicted Patkar on May 24, observing that her statements calling Saxena a "coward" and alleging his involvement in "hawala" transactions were not only defamatory per se, but also crafted to incite negative perceptions about him.

Also, the accusation that the complainant was "mortgaging" the people of Gujarat and their resources to foreign interests was a direct attack on his integrity and public service, the court had said.

The arguments on sentencing were completed on May 30, following which the judgment on the quantum of sentence was reserved on June 7.

Patkar and Saxena have been locked in a legal tussle since 2000 after she filed a suit against him for publishing advertisements against her and the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA).

Saxena, who then headed an Ahmedabad-based NGO named "Council for Civil Liberties", also filed two cases against Patkar in 2001 for making derogatory remarks against him on a television channel and issuing a defamatory press statement.

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