The Delhi High Court has directed Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Saket Gokhale to apologize and pay Rs 50 lakh in damages to former diplomat Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri, in a defamation case dating back to 2021. Lakshmi Puri, wife of Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, was a former assistant secretary-general of the United Nations.
A single-judge bench of Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani ordered Gokhale to issue an apology on his X handle, ensuring that it remains visible for six months. Additionally, the apology must be published in a leading English daily within four weeks. The court stipulated that the damages should be paid within eight weeks.
“The bell can’t be unrung. The damage caused to the plaintiff’s (Puri) reputation by the offending tweets cannot be effaced completely. An express, unreserved, and unconditional apology is the very least that is required from defendant No.1 (Gokhale) for having put out the offending tweets,” the HC stated. Moreover, Gokhale is restrained from posting any further defamatory content related to the accusations on any social media or electronic platform.
The defamation case arose from tweets posted by Gokhale in 2021, which Puri claimed had tarnished her reputation by making reckless and false allegations concerning her financial affairs, particularly regarding an apartment she owns in Geneva, Switzerland. In July 2021, the HC had issued an interim order, preventing Gokhale from posting defamatory or factually incorrect statements about Puri or her husband.
Justice Bhambhani highlighted the severe impact of allegations of financial impropriety on public figures, stating, “Very few allegations can hurt a person associated with public office more than an allegation of financial impropriety.” The court noted that Gokhale’s tweets appeared to target Hardeep Singh Puri, a serving minister in the central government, rather than Lakshmi Puri, who retired from foreign service in 2011.
The judge suggested that if Gokhale’s intention was to raise a bona fide question, he should have posed it as a query and awaited a response before making further public statements. After reviewing Puri’s explanations and records regarding the source of funds used to purchase the Geneva apartment, the court concluded that Gokhale’s tweets were “evidently incorrect, false, and untrue.”
This judgment underscores the court’s stance against the dissemination of false and defamatory information, particularly when it concerns individuals in public office.
