New Delhi:

The Delhi High Court today directed Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Saket Gokhale, to pay Rs 50 lakh in damages in a defamation case filed by former diplomat Lakshmi Puri. The court also issued additional instructions, including a public apology on social media which must remain on his handle for at least six months. 

The legal battle stems from tweets made Mr Gokhale on June 13 and June 26 in 2021. In these tweets, Gokhale alleged that Lakshmi Puri had purchased property in Switzerland disproportionate to her income. He also mentioned her husband, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri.

The court also ordered Mr Gokhale to publish his apology in a leading national newspaper, adding that the order must be complied with within eight weeks.

In her 2021 lawsuit, filed through the legal firm Karanjawala and Company, Lakshmi Puri accused Mr Gokhale of making “false and factually incorrect, per se defamatory, slanderous, and libellous statements/imputations” against her and her family. She argued that Mr Gokhale’s claims about her income were baseless, as she was on deputation from the Government of India to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

In 2021, Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing Lakshmi Puri, argued that the tweets were defamatory, malicious, and based on false information. Mr Singh emphasized that Ms Puri did not hold any public office at the time, and hence, her private transactions should not have been subjected to public scrutiny without her consent. He criticised Mr Gokhale for not verifying the facts before making public allegations, describing his actions as an attack on Puri’s integrity.

On the other hand, Mr Gokhale’s counsel, Advocate Sarim Naved, contended that as a citizen, Mr Gokhale had the right to question the assets of public figures. Naved argued that the involvement of public money justified Mr Gokhale’s scrutiny of the transactions.

New Delhi:

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in a swipe at Rahul Gandhi after the exit polls indicated a massive NDA victory “advised” the Congress leader to start preparing for the general elections in 2029 and 2034.

Mr Puri said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s “self-certification” of giving 295 seats to the Opposition bloc INDIA will evaporate when the results come out.

“If he thinks INDIA alliance is getting 295, give him another 48 hours to indulge in a little more illusion, self belief, and then he will discover on the 4th that he was living in a make believe world,” Mr Singh told NDTV in an interview today.

He said all the exit polls are pointing at only one direction. Citing from experience in 2014 and 2019, he said he is confident the BJP will by itself get over 340 seats.

“I think we are even close to 350-plus by ourselves. Mallikarjun Kharge, on the other hand, is just throwing around drawing-room conversation… They have also collapsed. Aam Aadmi Party has been wiped out in Delhi. In Punjab, they are almost wiped out. Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, look at what the exit polls are saying,” Mr Singh said.

On Rahul Gandhi, Mr Singh said, “He is still young. He has 2029 and 2034 to look forward to.”

After a marathon Lok Sabha elections 2024 – spread over six weeks, the second-longest general election since 1951-52 – a big win for the ruling BJP-led NDA has been predicted by twelve exit polls – India Today- Axis My India (361-401), News 24-Today’s Chanakya (400), ABP News-C Voter (353-383), Republic Bharat- P Marq (359), India News- D-Dyanamics (371), Republic Bharat- Matrize (353-368), Dainik Bhaskar (281-350), News Nation (342-378), TV 9 Bharatvarsh- Polstrat (342), Times Now-ETG (358), India TV- CNX (362-392) and Jan Ki Baat (362-392).

The exit polls have also predicted NDA dominance in Karnataka and Maharashtra and Left-led alliance’s rout in Kerala. In Bengal, the exit polls predicted a better performance for the BJP than it did the last time (22). Most exit polls have said that the BJP will now be the single-largest party in Bengal in terms of Lok Sabha seats.

New Delhi:

The role and contribution of Mahatma Gandhi in India’s freedom struggle is well documented and he was “quite a complicated being”, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday.

“He had actually asked for mobilisation of India’s help for the war effort during the First World War,” Mr Puri said.

The minister was addressing an event organised in Delhi to release a book, titled ‘The Reverse Swing – Colonialism to Cooperation’, authored by veteran journalist and Prasar Bharati board member Ashok Tandon.

“One chapter (in the book) is on Mahatma Gandhi – an apostle of peace for Britons. We are all disciples of the Father of the Nation. His role in building India, creating a link between an elitist national movement and the masses, fusing that, (all that) is very well documented,” Mr Puri said.

With several friends from my college days & former colleagues as part of the distinguished audience, launch of the book ‘The Reverse Swing: Colonialism to Cooperation’ by another good friend for the past many decades, Sh @AshokTandon Ji turned out to be a reunion of sorts! pic.twitter.com/wtxXMNVEoA

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) October 18, 2023

“But let me tell you Mahatma himself was quite a complicated being,” he said, adding, “While still in the UK, he (Gandhi) actually asked for mobilisation of India’s help for the war effort in the First World War. That’s well documented.” Puri said that Gandhi’s “initial life” in the UK, and his education prepared him for an “English-style barrister”.

“When he goes to South Africa, it is then the Gandhi that we know and the Gandhi who contributed to our national movement begins to mature,” he added.

Referring to the content of the book, Mr Puri said there is a chapter in it about how India overtook the UK to become the world’s fifth-largest economy.

“I think most of us relish that,” he said, adding, “When we become the third largest economy and we overtake Japan and Germany, I don’t think we will enjoy that much.” 

The Union minister said the Indo-British cooperation in the “aviation sector, telecommunications, all these” are relevant in understanding the dynamics of the current bilateral relationship between India and the UK.

The Indian-origin community in the UK has given “shape and content” to India’s relationship with the UK far more than what a diaspora can do elsewhere, he said.

“I hope the India-UK free trade agreement actually sees the light of the day,” he said.

Participating in a panel discussion on the book, Tondon, the author, talked about a chapter on the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and said many, from the Queen to the British Prime Minister, have expressed regret over the incident but they have never officially apologised for it.

“Is it something to do with the British system that when you apologised for some crime and there is a provision for (giving) compensation?” he asked.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NEW DELHI:

India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer, is watching the ongoing conflict in the Middle East closely, the country’s oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday.

Oil prices rose over $3 a barrel on Monday as military clashes between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas deepened political uncertainty across the Middle East and raised concerns about supplies. 

“The place where action is taking place is in many respects the centre of global energy… as we go along we will navigate through this,” Mr Puri told reporters at an industry event in New Delhi.

Global uncertainties of such nature encourage people to use sustainable, cleaner fuels, Mr Puri said, adding that $100 per barrel crude oil prices was unsustainable.

Higher oil prices typically lead to surge in inflation and hurts growth in large-scale importer like India.

Last week, India had urged oil producers to show “sensitivity” towards consuming countries, hit by prices largely trading above $90 a barrel since Saudi Arabia and Russia decided to extend voluntary cuts to year-end.