Crime Today News
The Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale’s salary to be attached for failing to comply with a July order in a defamation case filed by former diplomat Lakshmi Puri, Live Law reported.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed that the Rajya Sabha MP’s salary of Rs 1.9 lakh per month be remain attached each month until he deposits Rs 50 lakh as damages with the court, reported Bar and Bench.
Gokhale has not given any reasonable explanation for not depositing the amount he was directed to as damages, said the court.
In July 2024, the High Court ruled that Gokhale made “incorrect, false and untrue” allegations about Puri, including claims that she had purchased property in Switzerland with disproportionate assets.
Puri had sued Gokhale, alleging that his social media posts were “defamatory, malicious and based on false information”.
In its verdict, the court had ordered Gokhale to apologise in a leading English daily and on his X handle. The social media post was to remain with the latter post to be retained for six months. He was also directed to pay Rs 50 lakh in damages.
Gokhale has since sought to recall the July 2024 order, arguing that it was issued ex parte, or in his absence, after his counsel stopped appearing. His counsel told the court on Thursday that the recall application would turn ineffective if he issued an apology. But Justice Arora noted that there was no stay on the court’s July 2024 order.
Puri’s counsel maintained that Gokhale must comply with the order.
Puri, a former assistant secretary-general at the United Nations and wife of Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, had filed the defamation case in 2021. She argued that her reputation was tarnished by Gokhale’s “reckless and false allegations” regarding an apartment in Geneva, which she had allegedly purchased in 2006 for 1.6 million Swiss francs.
Gokhale had questioned how Puri could afford the property on her income as a former Indian Foreign Service officer on deputation to the UN Conference on Trade and Development. He had also tagged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in his posts, calling for an Enforcement Directorate inquiry in the matter.
In July 2021, the High Court had issued an interim order restraining Gokhale from posting defamatory content about Puri or her husband.
During Thursday’s hearing, Gokhale’s counsel reiterated that the court’s July 2024 judgment was passed in his absence. The court responded that the counsel’s absence was Gokhale’s responsibility and noted that he was not unaware of the proceedings.
The matter will be heard next on May 28.
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