Delhi High Court orders attachment of Saket Gokhale's salary in Lakshmi Puri defamation case

The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued directions to attach a part of the salary of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Saket Gokhale for his failure to comply with an earlier order to pay damages and apologise for defamatory statements made against former diplomat Lakshmi Puri..Puri, who is also the wife of Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, had sued Gokhale for defamation after he alleged that she bought property in Switzerland disproportionate to her assets.On July 1, 2024, the High Court concluded that Gokale had made "incorrect, false and untrue" allegations against Puri. It ordered Gokhale to pay ₹50 lakhs as damages and also publish an apology for his statements in a newspaper and on his X handle. However, Gokhale is yet to apologise. Puri, therefore, sought directions from the High Court to execute the single-judge's July 2024 decree. Earlier, Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora had questioned why he has not tendered the apology till date despite there being no stay on the July 2024 decree. .Today, the judge proceeded to order the attachment of a part of Gokhale's salary for this lapse and for his failure to deposit the ₹50 lakh that he had been ordered to pay as damages. The Court has ordered the salary attachment under Section 60 (i) of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), which says that salary to the extent of ₹1,000 and two third of the remainder can be attached in furtherance of executing a court decree. "No reasonable explanation (has been given) for not depositing the decretal amount. Accordingly, issue warrants of attachment as per Section 60(i) CPC with respect of salary which is stated to be ₹1.9 lakhs per month. The salary shall remain attached until a sum of ₹50 lakhs is deposited in this court," Justice Arora said. The matter will be heard next on May 28..Puri had moved the High Court in 2021, claiming that Gokhale had published posts on X (then Twitter) that were defamatory, malicious and based on false information.She argued that Gokhale falsely claimed that she had purchased property in Switzerland disproportionate to her income, and that her income could have only been ₹10-12 lakhs since she was on deputation from the Government of India to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).The Court ruled in her favour by its July 2024 order. .Gokhale later filed a plea to recall this verdict. His counsel, Advocate Varun, today told the Court that the judgment on his recall application has been reserved and that this plea would be rendered infructuous if Gokhale is made to comply with the decree.Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appeared for Puri, and maintained that this was no excuse."They have to comply with the decree. There is no stay," he said. .Puri was represented by Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, along with Karanjawala & Company through Senior Partner Meghna Mishra with Advocates Palak Sharma, Shreyansh Rathi and Rohit Kumar..[Read Live Coverage]