'What Is Your Explanation Of Not Giving Public Apology?': Delhi High Court Asks Saket Gokhale In Defamation Case By Lakshmi Puri

The Delhi High Court on Friday asked Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale as to what was his explanation of not issuing a public apology, as directed by the Court in the defamation suit filed against him by Lakshmi Puri, former Indian Assistant Secretary-General to the United Nations.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora asked Gokhale's counsel that since there was no stay of the judicial direction, why has the apology not been published yet.

“Once there is no stay [of the ruling], what is your explanation of not publishing the apology?” the judge asked.

The development ensued in Puri's plea seeking execution of the judgment passed by a coordinate bench on July 01 last year. Gokhale was asked to put an apology on social media within four weeks and also to pay Rs. 50 lakh damages to Puri.

During the hearing today, Gokhale's counsel told the Court that his application seeking recall of the judgment in question is pending before a coordinate bench and is coming up for hearing on April 15. He requested that the matter be listed after the said date.

On this, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh appearing for Puri told the Court that the coordinate bench had only issued notice on Gokhale's application for condonation of delay and not in his main application to recall the order. The Court was also informed that no stay has been granted on the July 01, 2024 ruling.

Gokhale's counsel informed the Court that pursuant to the earlier order, he had filed an affidavit disclosing his assets and liabilities and a compilation of all bank account details.

However, Singh submitted that the affidavit was “selectively” filed by Gokhale and was grossly deficient. He submitted that the affidavit fails to make disclosure of movable and immovable assets already available in public domain.

Singh further submitted that the omissions on part of Gokhale are actionable under Order 21 Rule 41 (3) of the CPC.

As Gokhale's counsel requested that the matter be adjourned to April 15, the Court said: “If nothing happens on April 15, then you'll have to public the apology, no?”

“If you don't have a stay, you don't have the option of not publishing the apology, right?…I'll keep it on [April 24]. In case there is no stay, you'll publish an apology,” the judge added.

The matter will now be heard on April 24.

The defamation suit was filed by Puri being aggrieved by Gokhale's tweets referring to a property purchased by her in Switzerland. In the tweets, Gokhale raised questions regarding her and her husband, Union Minister Hardeep Puri's assets. He had also tagged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman in the tweets and sought an ED inquiry.

In the judgment, a coordinate bench, while decreeing the suit in favour of Puri, asked Gokhale to put an apology in Times of India. He was also directed to put the apology on his Twitter handle, which has to stay for 6 months.

Quoting William Shakespeare's Othello in the judgment, the court had held Gokhale was making “roving allegations” against Lakshmi Puri and her husband Hardeep Puri.

The suit contended that Gokhale's tweets were false and defamatory. It was Puri's case that the tweets were “maliciously motivated and designed accordingly, laced with canards and entail deliberate twisting of facts”.

In July 2021, a coordinate bench ruled in favour of Puri while deciding the interim injunction application in the suit.

The court had then directed Gokhale to take down the tweets in question within 24 hours. He was also restrained from posting any further defamatory material against Puri.

Title: LAKSHMI MURDESHWAR PURI v. SAKET GOKHALE