Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale directed to pay Rs 50 lakh in defamation case
The Delhi High Court held that claims made by the Trinamool Congress leader in 2021, about former diplomat Lakshmi Puri’s finances, were ‘false’.
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale to pay Rs 50 lakh in damages in a defamation case filed against him by former diplomat Lakshmi Puri, Bar and Bench reported.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani directed the Rajya Sabha MP to publish an apology in the newspaper The Times of India and on the social media platform X. The court added that the order must be adhered to within eight weeks.
In June 2021, the Rajya Sabha MP had questioned how Puri could have bought a house for 1.6 million Swiss Francs in Geneva in 2006 with her then income as a former Indian Foreign Service officer.
In his posts on X, Gokhale had also tagged Union finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman, demanding an inquiry into the matter by the Enforcement Directorate.
Subsequently, Puri, who is also the wife of Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, filed a defamation case against Gokhale and sought damages to the tune of Rs 5 crore.
A month later, the High Court directed Gokhale to delete the posts and restrained him from posting any defamatory content against Puri and her husband.
On Monday, Bhambhani said that the claims made by Gokhale were “incorrect, false and untrue”, Bar and Bench reported.
In its order, the court said that it was “extremely irresponsible of...
