Delhi HC directs AITMC MP Saket Gokhale to pay RS.50 lakh damages to laxmi puri in defamation case.
Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale was ordered by the Delhi High Court on Monday to apologize to former diplomat Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri, who is the wife of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, and pay her rs. 50 lakhs in damages for his defamatory tweets over her acquisition of a property in Switzerland.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani upheld the validity of the defamation complaint made by the former assistant secretary general of the United States and ordered Gokhale to stop posting any more information about the case on any social media or electronic platform.
The Delhi High Court ruled that “roving allegations” implying financial misconduct in former ambassador Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri’s acquisition of a house in Switzerland were “actually targeted” at her husband, Hardeep Singh Puri of the BJP.
This court believes that reputational harm cannot be adequately repaired by any financial compensation. The apology will remain on Gokhale’s X handle for six months after it is posted, the HC stated, adding that defendant No. 1 is ordered to pay the plaintiff damages in the amount of Rs 50 lakh within eight weeks after all factors are taken into account.
While the damage to her reputation caused by the offending posts cannot be “effaced completely,” Justice Bhambhani noted that the documents placed by the former diplomat “clearly and cogently explained the source of funds” used by her to purchase the apartment, which included a loan from a banking institution and funds from her daughter. An unconditional apology is the least that is required.
The judge noted that the offending posts are inherently defamatory, and that the plaintiff has experienced unjustified harm to her reputation that calls for redress. She further noted that accusations of financial impropriety undermine a person’s reputation and that in this particular case, the victim’s loss of respect would have “inevitably resulted in loss of social standing, accompanied by psychological distress, aggravated by the pain of false accusation.”
