Saket Gokhale, a member of the Rajya Sabha would challenge the Delhi HC order in defamation case. The Trinamool Congress’ MP stated on Tuesday that he will challenge the Delhi HC’s ruling in a defamation lawsuit brought by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s wife, Lakshmi.
Gokhale, in a statement released on Tuesday morning, asserted his view. He stated “The order shall be appealed against & all legal steps will be taken within the purview of my fundamental rights.”
In the declaration, Gokhale asserts that he was brought “on false charges” during the course of the case between December 2022 and May 2023, which prevented him from taking part in the proceedings against him.
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He claimed that he was incarcerated at the time and was therefore unable to get updates regarding the proceedings.
Gokhle stated, “Subsequently, I never received a single summons from the Plaintiff or the Delhi HC in this matter. At no point was I personally served with any notice or summons,”
Saket will challenge the order as he has right to do so. According to him, since in any court proceedings, the defendant has the right to be heard and to be able to cross-examine the plaintiff and since in this matter he was not able to do so he will dully challenge the order.
Delhi HC directs Saket Gokhle of Trinamool to pay damages Rs 50 Lakh
As per the Delhi High Court’s order on Monday, Gokhale was directed to pay damages of Rs 50 lakh. The ammount is to be paid in a defamation suit filed by Lakshmi Puri. Gokhle is also restrained from publishing further defamatory content against the plaintiff and to give an apology to the plaintiff. These contents shall be published on Gokhale’s X account and in a leading newspaper.
Further, the court has directed that the apology tweet published on Gokhale’s X account shall be retained for six months.
The defamation suit was filed following Gokhale’s successive Tweets accusing Puri of purchasing property in Switzerland disproportionate to her income. In the Tweets, her husband was also named.
