Delete tweets against Lakshmi Puri, Delhi HC tells Saket Gokhale
The Delhi High Court today directed self-described activist Saket Gokhale to immediately delete alleged defamatory tweets against former Indian envoy Lakshmi Puri. The court also restrained him from posting "scandalous or factually incorrect" content against Puri and her husband, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Lakshmi Puri had filed a defamation suit against Gokhale over his tweets, seeking Rs. 5 crore compensation.
Court asks Twitter to remove posts if Gokhale fails to
In the order, Justice C Hari Shankar asked Twitter to take down Gokhale's tweets if he fails to do so within the next 24 hours, reports say. Twitter India has also been directed to file a compliance report over the matter before the next date of hearing. The court asked Puri to include Twitter as a party to the proceedings.
'Gokhale cannot post any defamatory, scandalous tweets'
"The defendant (Gokhale) is directed to immediately delete from his Twitter account all tweets against the plaintiff (Puri) which the present plaint makes reference, as well as all connected tweets," the court said. "The defendant is restrained, pending further orders of this court, from posting any defamatory, scandalous, or factually incorrect tweets on his Twitter account against the plaintiff or her husband."
Matter is now listed for September 10
The court issued fresh summons to Gokhale, giving him four weeks' time to file a written response in the case. Puri, meanwhile, has been given a period of two weeks thereafter to file a counter. The matter has now been listed for September 10 before the Registrar (Judicial), according to a report by Bar & Bench.
Gokhale had alleged Puri owned illegal property
Gokhale had alleged in a series of tweets last month that Puri owned property in Switzerland that was disproportionate to her income. "How did @HardeepSPuri & his spouse have an annual income of 2.4 crores in 2006...? (sic)" one of his tweets read. Puri, however, rubbished the allegations and sent a legal notice to Gokhale before lodging the said suit.
Puri made these claims to counter the accusations
Puri earlier told the court her daughter had helped her with the money to buy the apartment in Switzerland. "My elder daughter, who is a banker in New York, gave me 6 lakh Swiss francs and I had mortgage of 10 lakh Swiss francs. I have put these documents before court." She added she doesn't currently hold any public office to face these allegations.
Court had reserved its order on July 8
The court had reserved its order in this issue on July 8. At that time, Justice Hari Shankar noted that Gokhale had neither approached Puri nor the authorities before making his allegations against her public. "How can you be vilifying people like this?" "So any Tom, Dick and Harry can write anything vilificatory against anyone on the internet?" the court had asked.
