Delhi HC Gives Lakshmi Puri Time to Consider TMC MP Saket Gokhale’s Apology in Defamation Case
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, granted time to former diplomat Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri to consider the apology tendered by All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale in a defamation suit she had filed over his public remarks regarding her ownership of an apartment in Geneva, Switzerland.
A Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar was hearing Gokhale’s appeal challenging a judgment that had directed him to pay ₹50 lakhs in damages to Puri and issue a public apology, both in a national daily and on his social media account.
“In compliance with the previous order passed on July 8, 2025, the appellant has filed a fresh affidavit, which is now part of the record. List the matter in the supplementary list on July 24,” the Court noted in its order.
The direction was issued after Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Puri, informed the Bench that he had not received a copy of the fresh apology affidavit.
Appearing for Gokhale, Senior Advocate Amit Sibal told the Court that the revised affidavit had been submitted.
On July 8, the High Court had objected to the apology affidavit filed by Gokhale and asked him to submit a better affidavit within one week.
Sibal had earlier informed the Court that Gokhale had issued an unconditional apology on his X handle (formerly Twitter).
On the other hand, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Puri, opposed the submissions made.
He highlighted Gokhale’s conduct before the Single Judge during execution and contempt proceedings. "The Hon’ble judge had adjourned the matter nine times to allow him to appear, finally heard the case and passed the decree on July 1, 2024. While the compensation demanded was Rs 5 crore, the Court awarded Rs 50 lakhs. However, the very next day, Gokhale posted a tweet that was egregious in nature, commenting on the judgment," Singh submitted.
After hearing both sides, Justice Navin Chawla pointed to paragraph 4 of Gokhale’s apology affidavit and remarked, “Mr. Sibal, we don’t like what’s been said. Just look at your affidavit, para 4.”
Accordingly, the Court had asked Gokhale to withdraw the apology affidavit and file a better one within a week.
Background:
The matter arose from a defamation suit filed by Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri, a former diplomat and senior official of the United Nations, against Saket Gokhale. The suit pertained to a series of tweets made by Gokhale in which he questioned how Puri could have purchased a house worth 1.6 million Swiss Francs in Geneva in 2006.
In her plaint, Puri alleged that the statements were “maliciously motivated, laced with canards, and entailed deliberate twisting of facts in order to cause reputational damage and irrevocable harm”.
She further contended that Gokhale had manipulated financial data by selectively quoting from a 2018 affidavit filed by her husband, then a public servant, during his Rajya Sabha nomination process. According to her, this was done in a mala fide and defamatory manner.
On July 8, 2021, Justice C. Harishankar had directed Gokhale to take down the tweets in question. Despite indicating a willingness to amicably settle the matter during later proceedings, Gokhale’s proposal was declined by Puri’s counsel, who maintained that the defamatory statements were baseless and had caused unjustified harm to her reputation.
Case Title: Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri v Saket Gokhale
Order Date: 22 July, 2025
Bench: Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar