This case was decided on the principle that imputations of financial impropriety without a factual basis dent the very foundations of one’s reputation.
The Delhi High Court, on 1st July 2024, directed Saket Gokhale, a TMC MP, to apologise and pay Rs 50 lakh damages to former diplomat Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri for his defamatory tweets over the latter’s purchase of a property in Switzerland.
Ms Puri is the spouse of Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and had served as assistant secretary general of the United Nations. She approached the high court in 2021, alleging that Gokhale tarnished her good name and reputation by making reckless and false allegations about her financial affairs in the context of an apartment that she owned in Geneva.
Justice Anup Bhambhani of the Delhi high court ruled that the offending tweets were per se defamatory; and that the complainant had suffered undeserved damage to her reputation, which needed redressal. The court also ordered Gokhale not to post any more content on any social media or electronic platform concerning his imputation.
The judge further said that allegations of financial impropriety dent the very foundations of a person’s reputation, and while the damage caused to the plaintiff’s reputation by the offending tweets cannot be effaced completely, an unconditional apology is the very least that is required.
“The very first thing that defendant No.1 (Gokhale) is directed to do is to publish an apology in the following terms on his own Twitter (now X), handle from which he had put out the offending tweets, as also prominently in (a newspaper),” the court said.
“It is this court’s view that no amount of monetary award can truly compensate for damage to reputation. However, upon a balance of all considerations, defendant No.1 is directed to pay to the plaintiff damages in the sum of Rs 50 lakh within eight weeks,” it ordered. The court said the apology shall be retained on Gokhale’s ‘X’ handle for six months from the date it is published.
Ms Puri had sought Rs 5 crore damages from Gokhale for his libellous statements against her and her family. (Source: PTI)
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