Delhi High Court Orders Saket Gokhale to Pay Rs 50 Lakh to Lakshmi Puri for Defamation

The Delhi High Court has directed AITMC MP Saket Gokhale to pay Rs 50 lakh in damages to former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Lakshmi Puri in her defamation suit against him. The court also instructed Gokhale to post an apology in the Times of India and on his Twitter handle for six months.

The court found that Gokhale’s tweets falsely accused Puri and her husband of purchasing a house in Geneva with black money. The judgment was passed by Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, who noted that no amount of monetary award can truly compensate for damage to reputation. However, Gokhale is required to pay the damages within eight weeks.

The defamation suit was filed by Karanjawala & Co. on behalf of Lakshmi Puri, with Senior Advocate Maninder Singh representing her. The tweets in question were posted by Gokhale on June 13 and June 23, 2021, alleging that Puri and her husband used black money to buy a house in Geneva and had Swiss bank accounts.