In June 2021, Saket Gokhale posted allegedly defamatory tweets against retired IFS officer Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri, claiming she had purchased property worth ₹25 crores in Switzerland despite having a civil servant’s salary of ₹10–12 lakhs. He called for an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Puri argued that the tweets were erroneous on several grounds such as misrepresentations of her employment details and income. She contended that Gokhale’s allegations were baseless and leveled without any prima facie investigation, damaging her reputation built over years of public service. The tweets received significant attention, accumulating thousands of likes, which further exacerbated the harm to Puri’s reputation. The Delhi High Court granted interim relief, directing Gokhale to take down all tweets against Puri. On 1st July 2024, the court ruled the tweets to be defamatory. It ordered Gokhale to pay ₹50 lakh in damages, publish an apology on his X (formerly Twitter) handle and also prominently in the Times of India newspaper.
