Delhi High Court Seeks Himayani Puri’s Reply on Plea Against Gag Order in Epstein Link Case

The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a notice to Himayani Puri , daughter of Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri , on an activist’s plea seeking to vacate an earlier order directing the removal of social media content linking her to late American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein .

Justice Mini Pushkarna asked Puri to file her response to the application moved by activist Kunal Shukla , who has challenged the interim gag order passed on March 17. The court clarified that it would hear both Puri’s plea for continuation of the stay and Shukla’s application for its vacation together on May 7 , noting that the legal issues involved overlap.

The controversy stems from a lawsuit filed by Himayani Puri, who sought ₹10 crore in damages and an injunction against multiple individuals and platforms for allegedly circulating defamatory content linking her to Epstein. The court, in its earlier order, had directed the removal of such content and restrained further dissemination, observing that Puri had established a prima facie case and could suffer irreparable harm if relief was not granted.

Shukla, in his plea, argued that the order was passed without granting him sufficient opportunity to respond , and described it as a blanket restriction on his right to publish content. He maintained that his posts were based on publicly available documents and reports and raised questions of public importance.

Puri, however, has denied all allegations, terming them false, malicious, and politically motivated . Her plea also refers to an alleged coordinated online campaign aimed at damaging her reputation by falsely linking her to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

The case highlights the ongoing tension between free speech and protection against defamation in the digital space, with the court set to examine both aspects in the upcoming hearing.