Booker-winner Arundhati Roy Jailed

The novelist Arundhati Roy has been jailed for one day after being found guilty of contempt by India's supreme court.

In what appears to be a symbolic gesture, the court also fined the Booker-winning novelist 2,000 rupees (£28) for speaking out against work on the Narmada dam project.

Roy took part in a protest against the controversial project in December alongside other environmental campaigners. In a petition filed against her the day after the demonstration, a group of lawyers claimed that she had shouted abusive slogans outside court and behaved like a "thug". Roy then issued her own affidavit, describing the petition as "absurd" and "despicable" and she was then promptly charged with contempt by the supreme court.

In the original hearing, the court had taken a dim view of Ms Roy's failure to apologise for her behaviour and complained she had not behaved like "a reasonable man". However, when passing judgement today, the court ruled that "freedom of speech is subject to reasonable restrictions" and said that the one-day sentence showed that the court had been magnanimous in its sentencing and had kept in mind that Ms Roy was a woman.

In an interview in today's G2, Roy said the decision to take her to court was no accident. "I think it is to do with an ancient fear of writers," she said. "I think the clarity of what you are saying is threatening."

The construction of the dam in the Narmada valley is viewed by its critics as not just an environmental disaster but also a social catastrophe for the 400,000 people who will have to relocate as a result.

It is not the first time the author has been in trouble with the Indian courts over the Narmada dam. She was issued with a petition after she wrote a series of articles criticising the project and the Indian judicial system. Although no further action was taken, Roy's continued criticism of the project and her outspoken views on India's nuclear tests four years ago have made her a much-hated figure among the Indian right-wing establishment.