No case pending when I applied for passport renewal: Medha

BHOPAL: Medha Patkar has denied there was any pending criminal case against her on March 30, 2017, when she applied for passport renewal.


Medha, who is leading a protest of Sardar Sarovar Dam evictees in Bhopal for the past week, termed it a “conspiracy to stop activists from raising people’s issues”.

The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activist said she would continue to fight for dam oustees despite getting such notices. The Mumbai RPO has stated that nine criminal cases have been registered against her — three in Barwani, one in Alirajpur and five in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh. Most of the charges are of ‘rioting’ and ‘obstruction of government servants’, and were filed during the NBA agitation, which began in 1985.

Displaying the passport office notice to reporters, Medha said it doesn’t mention the case numbers. “Only FIR numbers have been mentioned in the notice, issued on October 18, and I was asked to reply within 10 days,” she said, adding that her lawyers had inquired into the cases against her when she applied for renewal of passport. “It was found that no case was pending as of March 30, when I applied for the passport. One case of violation of Section 144 was registered in August 2017,” she said, adding that cases that have been filed against her relate to “non-violent demonstrations of farmers and labourers”.