Trinamool MP Saket Gokhale's Public Apology In Defamation Case By Laxmi Puri

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale, as directed by the Delhi High Court, has issued an unconditional apology to former diplomat Laxmi Puri, wife of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, over defamatory posts.

The High Court had directed Mr Gokhale to pay Rs 50 lakh as damages to the former diplomat for alleged defamation and publish an apology.

Mr Gokhale wrote on the social media platform X that on June 13 and 23, 2021, he had accused Ms Puri of buying property abroad without proof, for which he apologises. 

A single bench of the Delhi High Court had directed Mr Gokhale to issue a public apology and pay a compensation of Rs 50 lakh to Laxmi Puri. 

The court had also barred Mr Gokhale from making any further defamatory remarks and warned of civil detention for disobeying the orders. Mr Gokhale issued this public apology after the court found he had not complied with the July 2024 decision and the deadline given in May 2025. 

In the last hearing, Mr Gokhale had told the court that he would publish an apology as directed by the single judge. 

Lakshmi Puri has filed a contempt petition against Saket Gokhale for not complying with the July 1 order, which is pending before another bench. 

During the hearing of the case, senior advocate Amit Sibal, appearing for Saket Gokhale, had said that the comments made on Twitter come under justified and democratic criticism. He had said that Mr Goakhle did not even name the defendant in the tweets nor did he accuse of any corruption.

Earlier, the High Court had rejected the review petition filed by Saket Gokhale. Mr Gokhale had requested the court to withdraw the order of paying Rs 50 lakh as compensation and apologising against him. Earlier, Lakshmi Puri had rejected Mr Gokhale's proposal in which he had offered not to pay the compensation citing financial difficulties. 

Recently, the Delhi High Court, in a setback to Saket Gokhale, ordered to confiscate his salary. 

The court had said that no proper explanation was given for not depositing the decretal amount.

Warrants of attachment should be issued as per Section 60 (I) Civil Procedure Code (CPC) regarding the salary, which is said to be Rs 1.9 lakh per month.

The court had directed that the salary will remain confiscated until the amount of Rs 50 lakh is deposited in the court. The lawyer appearing on behalf of Laxmi Puri had said that by decree the judgment debtor has been directed to publish an apology and pay Rs 50 lakh by August 27, 2024. Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Laxmi Puri, had said that we will file an application under Order 21 Rule 41 (3), which states that if the affidavit is not filed as per the court's instructions, then there is a jail sentence of three months. 

The court observed Section 60 of the Civil Procedure Code for attachment of Mr Gokhale's salary. The court had said that we can attach up to two-thirds of the salary as per the CIC. On July 1 last year, the court had asked Mr Gokhale to apologise on social media within four weeks and pay Ms Puri Rs 50 lakh as compensation. When that order was not implemented, Ms Puri filed a petition demanding implementation of the order.