HC notice to TMC MP Saket Gokhale on Lakshmi Puri's contempt plea asks him to file affidavit disclosing assets

New Delhi, Dec 23 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Monday sought a response from TMC leader Saket Gokhale on a plea by former diplomat Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri, the wife of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, seeking contempt action against him for allegedly failing to comply with a court direction to apologise and pay Rs 50 lakh damages to her.
    A separate bench of the high court also asked Gokhale to file an affidavit disclosing all his assets within four weeks, while it was hearing a plea by Lakshmi seeking execution of the July 1 judgment on the defamation lawsuit.
     Justice Manoj Jain issued notice on the contempt petition and asked Gokhale to file his reply.
     Puri, in her plea, contended that Gokhale has wilfully and deliberately non-complied with the high court's July 1 directions and is liable to be punished.
     Her counsel submitted that Gokhale was completely aware of the July 1 judgment passed against him as he published certain posts on social media thereafter.
     The single-judge bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora issued notice to Gokhale, seeking his response to the plea by Puri seeking execution of the July 1 judgment.
     "Let an affidavit be filed by the judgment debtor (Gokhale) making full disclosure of all his assets, monies, properties- movable and immovable, including the bank accounts and deposits in his name within four weeks,” it said.
     Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing Puri, argued that Gokhale has not complied with the specific directions of the court and has not paid the decretal amount of Rs 50 lakh to her.
     He contended that after the July 1 judgment, Gokhale had also published posts on his handle on 'X', earlier known as Twitter, where he again made defamatory assertions not just against Puri but also against the court.
     Puri was also represented by law firm Karanjawala and Company.
     In the July 1 verdict, the high court had also restrained the TMC Member of Parliament from publishing any more content on any social media or electronic platform concerning his imputation.
     The order was passed on the defamation lawsuit filed by the former assistant secretary general of the United Nations.
     The "roving allegations" insinuating financial impropriety were "actually targeting" BJP leader Hardeep Singh Puri and it was "extremely irresponsible" of Gokhale to have published the "derogatory content" without due verification, the court had observed.
     Puri 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.
     The court had said the damages of Rs 50 lakh be paid to Puri within eight weeks and the apology should be retained on Gokhale's 'X' handle for six months from the date it is published.
     Puri had sought Rs 5 crore damages from Gokhale, to be deposited in the PM CARES Fund. She had also sought directions for the tweets to be taken down.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)