Delhi HC orders salary attachment of TMC MP Saket Gokhale over Rs 50 lakh dues

New Delhi [India], April 24 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued an order for the attachment of a portion of the salary of Saket Gokhale, a Member of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The court directed that the salary will remain under attachment until a total sum of Rs 50 lakh is deposited in the court.
This directive came during the hearing of a petition filed by former diplomat Lakshmi Puri, who accused Gokhale of failing to comply with the court's previous instructions in a defamation case she had filed against him. In July of last year, the court had directed Gokhale to issue an apology to Puri and pay her Rs 50 lakh as damages.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Arora's bench observed that no reasonable explanation had been provided for the non-payment of the decretal amount, warranting the issuance of an attachment order under Section 60(i) of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC).
The court reviewed the provisions of Section 60 of the CPC concerning the attachment of Saket Gokhale's salary, which is reported to be Rs 1.9 lakh per month. Referring to the legal framework, the court noted that, as per the CPC, up to two-thirds of the salary could be attached.
Last week, a different bench of the Delhi High Court reserved its verdict on Saket Gokhale's plea to recall an ex parte judgement that directed him to pay Rs 50 lakh in damages and issue a public apology to Lakshmi Puri, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, in connection with a defamation suit.
In December 2023, Puri had filed a contempt petition, alleging Gokhale's failure to comply with the court's July 2023 ruling and seeking its enforcement. Following this, Gokhale was instructed to submit an affidavit disclosing his assets, properties, and bank accounts.
The defamation case originated in 2021 after Gokhale published a series of tweets questioning a property purchase made by Puri in Switzerland. His posts raised concerns regarding her and Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri's assets. Additionally, Gokhale tagged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in his tweets, calling for an ED investigation.
In its July 2023 ruling, the High Court deemed the tweets defamatory, citing Shakespeare's Othello to emphasise the damage inflicted on Puri's reputation. As part of the judgement, Gokhale was directed to publicly apologise in The Times of India and on his Twitter account, where the apology must remain pinned for six months. Earlier, in July 2021, the court had issued an interim injunction, mandating Gokhale to remove the tweets within 24 hours and barring him from making further defamatory statements. (ANI)