New Delhi: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s daughter, Himayani Puri, has approached the Delhi High Court with a defamation suit seeking removal of online news reports, posts, videos and other digital content that allegedly link her to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his criminal activities.
In her suit, Himayani Puri has sought damages of Rs 10 crore and a permanent injunction against several social media entities as well as unidentified individuals for allegedly circulating defamatory material about her on the internet.
She has also requested directions to intermediaries, including X, Google, Meta Platforms and LinkedIn, to remove the allegedly defamatory content and take down similar posts when brought to their notice in the future.
According to the suit, multiple posts circulating online since February 22, 2026, have made allegations suggesting that Puri maintained direct or indirect business, financial or personal associations with Epstein.
The plea further contends that the allegations are entirely false, malicious and devoid of any factual foundation. It also alleges that several unidentified individuals and social media entities have propagated the claims through edited videos, misleading captions and manipulated thumbnails designed to maximise public outrage and cause reputational harm to the plaintiff.
The plea claims that she is being targeted in a motivated manner and that the attacks have intensified because she is the daughter of a senior Union Cabinet minister.
The matter is likely to come up for hearing before the Delhi High Court on Tuesday.
The developments come amid political controversy in India following the release of documents related to the investigations into Epstein in the United States.
Opposition members, including leaders from the Congress, had earlier demanded the resignation of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri after his name allegedly appeared in the so-called “Epstein files”.
Epstein, a wealthy US financier, died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges involving underage girls. His death was officially ruled a suicide.
The controversy has resurfaced globally after US President Donald Trump signed legislation mandating the release of files related to the investigation into Epstein.
The United States Justice Department subsequently produced more than three million pages of records as part of the transparency process after reviewing millions of pages of material gathered during investigations into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
(IANS)
