TMC MP Saket Gokhale has publicly apologised to former diplomat Lakshmi Puri in a defamation case that began in 2021. At the time, Gokhale had posted several tweets claiming that Puri bought property in Switzerland that did not match her income.
He had also mentioned her husband, Hardeep Singh Puri, who is the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
After the tweets, Lakshmi Puri had filed a defamation case against Gokhale. In 2024, the Delhi High Court fined Gokhale Rs 50 lakh for defaming Puri and asked him to issue a public apology.
Gokhale took to X on Tuesday and wrote, “I unconditionally apologise for having put out a series of tweets against Amb. Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri on 13th and 23rd June 2021. which tweets contained wrong and unverified allegations in relation to the purchase of property by Amb. Puri abroad, which I sincerely regret.”
The Delhi HC had last year said that the property allegations by Gokhale were “extremely irresponsible” as they were actually targeted at Lakshmi Puri’s husband, Hardeep Singh Puri. The court had said that Gokhale had published the “derogatory content” without any proper verification.
The court also took note of the documents which were presented by Lakshmi Puri that clearly explained the source of the income. “The offending posts are per se defamatory; that the plaintiff has suffered undeserved legal injury to her reputation which warrants redressal,” the judge had said.
The court had made clear then that Puri deserved an unconditional apology from Gokhale saying that it was the least that was required in this case.