Delhi High Court warns Saket Gokhale of civil imprisonment for failing to apologize to Lakshmi Puri

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Saket Gokhale to show cause why he should not be sent to civil prison for not apologizing to former diplomat Lakshmi Puri for his defamatory social media posts against her [Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri v. Saket Gokhale]..The High Court had last year ruled that Gokhale's tweets were defamatory and directed him to pay ₹50 lakh as damages to Puri apart from publishing an apology in the Times of India newspaper and on his X handle. Lakshmi Puri later moved the High Court with two separate petitions, seeking execution of the decision and contempt of court action against Gokhale for not complying with these directions. A co-ordinate bench in Puri's contempt petition earlier this month rejected Gokhale's proposal to place the apology in a sealed cover and ordered him to publish it in the newspaper within two weeks..Today, Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, who was hearing Puri's execution petition, took a strong view of Gokhale's non-compliance with the directions after his counsel submitted they did not have any instructions from him.The Court remarked Gokhale appeared to be "mocking the court" and proceeded to issue a notice to him under the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure (CPC)."[With] the stand of the Judgement Debtor (Gokhale) in not complying with the orders and extended timelines to comply, it almost appears to the court that he is mocking at the Court and its process," Justice Arora said..Lakshmi Puri is the wife of Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri. In 2021, she sued Gokhale over social media posts in which he alleged that she had purchased certain property in Switzerland which was disproportionate to her income.In July 2021, the Court passed an interim order directing Gokhale to remove the tweets and refrain from posting any defamatory content against the Puris.In the final judgment delivered in July 2024, the High Court directed Gokhale to pay ₹50 lakh damages to Lakshmi Puri and also publish an apology.Gokhale later moved an application for the recall of the judgment ordering him to pay damages. On May 2, 2025, the High Court dismissed his application..Puri then sought directions from the High Court to execute the single-judge's July 2024 decree. Last month, the Court issued directions to attach a part of the salary of the MP for his failure to comply with the order to pay damages.The counsel representing the Rajya Sabha today submitted that he would apprise the court about the details of salary attachment.Meanwhile, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, who represents Puri, said,"He [Gokhale] has not apologised despite orders. It is an apology for destruction of my reputation.".The case will be heard next on September 03. .Senior Counsel Singh was briefed by Karanjawala & Company.Advocate Naman Joshi, who was assisted by advocates Priya Goyal, Guneet Sidhu and Aakash Deep Singh, appeared for Gokhale.