Latest news with #LakshmiPuri
Hans India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
HC warns TMC MP of civil imprisonment
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Saket Gokhale as to why he should not be sent to civil prison over his failure to pay Rs 50 lakh as damages in a defamation case to former diplomat Lakshmi Puri, wife of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. A single-judge Bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora was hearing a plea filed by former diplomat Lakshmi Puri seeking execution of the judgment passed in July last year. The Delhi High Court had ordered the Trinamool leader to pay Rs 50 lakh damages in a defamation case filed by former diplomat Lakshmi Puri. It had also directed Gokhale to publish an apology in a newspaper and on his social media platform X within four weeks for publishing wrong and unverified allegations. Further, the Delhi HC had directed that the apology tweet published on Gokhale's X account should be retained for six months. Earlier in April, Gokhale's salary, which he draws as a Member of Parliament, was ordered to be attached until the sum of Rs 50 lakh was deposited with the registry. The Delhi High Court, in December last year, had issued notice on a contempt plea filed by Lakshmi Puri against Gokhale for his 'wilful and deliberate non-compliance' of its judgment. It had then ordered the Rajya Sabha member to file an affidavit within the next four weeks disclosing all his assets, properties, and bank accounts and deposits. The defamation suit was filed following Gokhale's successive X posts accusing Lakshmi Puri of purchasing property in Switzerland disproportionate to her income. He also named Hardeep Puri in the tweets.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
No apology, Delhi HC asks TMC MP why he should not be detained
Photo/Agencies NEW DELHI: Delhi high court issued a notice to TMC MP Saket Gokhale, asking him to explain why he should not be put into civil detention for "wilful non-compliance" with its order to publish an apology for defaming former diplomat Lakshmi Puri. Taking a strong view of Gokhale's failure to publish the apology even after the timeline fixed by the court had elapsed, a single bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora observed that he was mocking the court and its process, and issued a notice under Code of Civil Procedure. "According to me, he has to go to jail," the judge observed. HC granted one week to the Rajya Sabha member to respond to the notice. The matter will be heard on Sept 3.
India Gazette
3 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Delhi HC issues notice to TMC MP Saket Gokhale over non-compliance with defamation judgment
New Delhi [India], May 28 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to Trinamool Congress leader (TMC) and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, Saket Gokhale, directing him to explain why he should not face civil imprisonment for failing to apologize to former diplomat Lakshmi Puri over defamatory social media posts. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora presided over the hearing of an execution petition filed by Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri, seeking enforcement of the final judgment and decree dated July 1, 2024. The ruling had mandated Gokhale to pay Rs 50 lakh in damages within eight weeks and publish a public apology both in a newspaper and on his X (formerly Twitter) account within four weeks. On April 24, 2025, the High Court had ordered the attachment of Gokhale's salary, amounting to Rs 1,90,000 per month, until the full decretal sum of Rs 50 lakh was realised. Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, representing Lakshmi Puri, highlighted that a coordinate bench hearing a contempt petition had, on May 9, 2025, directed Gokhale to issue the apology within two weeks as per the decree. Singh pointed out that this directive had neither been disclosed to the current Court nor challenged through an appeal, and more significantly, it had not been complied with. After hearing submissions from both sides, including arguments from Gokhale's Counsel, Naman Joshi, the Court noted that the Judgment Debtor appeared to be disregarding its directives and judicial process. The Court observed that despite granting additional time for compliance, Gokhale had failed to adhere to the decree dated July 1, 2024, as well as the subsequent order issued on May 9, 2025. In response, the Court issued a show-cause notice to Gokhale, requiring him to explain why he should not be sent to civil imprisonment. The Court further directed him to file a reply within a week. Lakshmi Puri was represented by Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, briefed by Karanjawala & Company. (ANI)
Hans India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Defamation case: Delhi HC warns Trinamool MP Saket Gokhale of civil imprisonment
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Saket Gokhale as to why he should not be sent to civil prison over his failure to pay Rs 50 lakh as damages in a defamation case to former diplomat Lakshmi Puri, wife of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. A single-judge Bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora was hearing a plea filed by former diplomat Lakshmi Puri seeking execution of the judgment passed in July last year. The Delhi High Court had ordered the Trinamool leader to pay Rs 50 lakh damages in a defamation case filed by former diplomat Lakshmi Puri. It had also directed Gokhale to publish an apology in a newspaper and on his social media platform X within four weeks for publishing wrong and unverified allegations. Further, the Delhi HC had directed that the apology tweet published on Gokhale's X account should be retained for six months. Earlier in April, Gokhale's salary, which he draws as a Member of Parliament, was ordered to be attached until the sum of Rs 50 lakh was deposited with the registry. The Delhi High Court, in December last year, had issued notice on a contempt plea filed by Lakshmi Puri against Gokhale for his "wilful and deliberate non-compliance" of its judgment. It had then ordered the Rajya Sabha member to file an affidavit within the next four weeks disclosing all his assets, properties, and bank accounts and deposits. The defamation suit was filed following Gokhale's successive X posts accusing Lakshmi Puri of purchasing property in Switzerland disproportionate to her income. He also named Hardeep Puri in the tweets. The Delhi High Court had held that the plaintiff suffered irreparable harm on account of Gokhale's defamatory statements. It said: "The defendant (Gokhale) is restrained from publishing further defamatory content against the plaintiff. Damages to the tune of Rs 50,00,000 are awarded to the plaintiff for the harm caused to her reputation." On May 2, a single-judge Bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav rejected the plea filed by the Trinamool Congress seeking recall of the judgment passed in July last year.
Indian Express
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Former UN Assistant-Secy General Lakshmi Puri's WhatsApp account hacked, police lodge FIR
Police registered an FIR on Wednesday after Lakshmi Puri, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and wife of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, became the victim of a WhatsApp hacking incident that led to fraudulent money demands from her contacts. Police said according to the FIR lodged on a complaint by Mahesh Chawla, Additional Private Secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, the incident took place on May 1. 'On the evening of May 1, Mrs Puri received a message from a person saved in her contact list… who claimed to have mistakenly sent an OTP to her phone number and requested that she share it. Trusting the familiarity of the contact, she shared the OTP. Shortly thereafter, she lost access to her WhatsApp account. Subsequently, several of her contacts… began receiving messages from her compromised WhatsApp number. These messages contained fraudulent requests for money, specifically asking recipients to transfer INR 20,000 to a UPI number… controlled by the hacker,' the FIR read. Upon realising the breach, Lakshmi Puri's contacts alerted her of the matter adding that their WhatsApp accounts had also been compromised. The FIR noted that another attempt to hack the account was made on May 3 before a two-factor authentication was set up on the phone. The Cyber Crime Unit of the Delhi Police was alerted, and it was confirmed that the hacker had compromised the accounts of some of the contacted individuals as well. A formal complaint was registered at the Cyber Police Station in New Delhi district on May 7. The FIR cites violations under sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, involving identity theft and impersonation. The investigation has since progressed with Delhi Police tracing two critical phone numbers linked to the fraud, said police.
