NEW DELHI: Photographs showing Indian Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri seated across a table from convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have triggered a political controversy in India, with opposition leaders questioning Puri’s association with the disgraced financier.
The photographs are part of documents released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in January and began circulating widely on social media this week. Puri’s office has said the images show professional meetings and do not reveal anything new about his interactions with Epstein.
The controversy has intensified following renewed scrutiny of emails documenting exchanges between the two from 2014 to 2017.
Puri has previously acknowledged meeting Epstein three or four times over several years, saying the encounters took place in a professional capacity through his former employer.
Opposition leaders, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, have called for greater transparency over the meetings.
Photographs Renew Scrutiny
At least 10 photographs in Dataset 9 of the DOJ files show Puri and Epstein seated across a table in animal-print armchairs, with papers and other items between them. The images appear to have been taken from slightly different angles.
The photographs show the two men facing each other in conversation. They do not establish whether other people were present before or after the moments captured.
The images have prompted questions about Puri’s February explanation that he met Epstein on a few occasions as part of delegations.
In a statement to The Wire, Puri’s office said the minister could not recall, nearly a decade later, which meeting was shown in the photographs or whether other people had been present before or after the pictures were taken.
“Far from revealing anything new, the photographs bear out what he has consistently said: these were working meetings, held across a table with notes and papers, in a professional setting and attire,” the office told the publication.
At a press conference on February 11, Puri said he had met Epstein “three or maximum four” times over eight years, from his time at India’s diplomatic mission to the United Nations in New York in 2009 until he became a minister in 2017.
Emails Document Meetings and Introductions
Emails included in the DOJ files provide further details of the contacts between Puri and Epstein, including introductions, proposed meetings and discussions about business opportunities in India.
The correspondence, spanning June 2014 to June 2017, records at least three meetings at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse.
The meetings were scheduled for February 4, 2015, January 6, 2016, and May 19, 2017. They were arranged through Epstein’s assistant, Lesley Groff.
A meeting planned for January 9, 2015, was cancelled because Epstein was no longer in New York.
In September 2014, Epstein introduced Puri to LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, describing Puri as “your man in India”. Hoffman replied to Puri, saying it was nice to meet him and that Epstein had “exquisite taste in people”.
Puri subsequently emailed Hoffman and Epstein about investment opportunities in India’s internet economy.
The correspondence also records a request from Epstein in October 2014 for assistance in obtaining an Indian visa for his assistant, who wanted to attend a wedding in India.
Puri forwarded the request to former Indian diplomat Parmod Bajaj, asking him to handle it on a “priority basis”.
In December 2014, Puri emailed Epstein asking when he would return from his “exotic island”. He said he wanted to visit for a conversation and bring books intended to “excite an interest in India”.
In a subsequent message, Puri wrote: “Indeed, telepathy. Give me a shout when you are back. And, have fun. Not that you require encouragement from others for that.”
The reference to the island has also attracted attention because Epstein owned Little St James in the US Virgin Islands, a property associated with allegations of sexual abuse and trafficking.
At his February press conference, Puri denied visiting the island. He also referred to Epstein’s private jet, which was nicknamed the “Lolita Express”.
Opposition Demands Answers
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in India’s lower house of parliament, questioned the timing of the photographs’ circulation following a visit to India by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“Rubio goes to Mumbai. The US DOJ releases a picture of Epstein and Puri. Dear BJP and RSS workers, which anti-national traitor do you think they’re blackmailing?” Gandhi wrote on October 21.
Rubio goes to Mumbai. The US DOJ releases a picture of Epstein and Puri. Dear BJP and RSS workers, which anti-national traitor do you think they’re blackmailing? रुबियो मुंबई पहुँचे। US DOJ ने एपस्टीन और पुरी की तस्वीर जारी की। प्रिय BJP और RSS कार्यकर्ताओं, आपको क्या लगता है – ये किस देश-विरोधी गद्दार को ब्लैकमेल कर रहे हैं?
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 21, 2026
The photographs, however, were included in Dataset 9, released by the DOJ in January.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra directly challenged Puri over the photographs, asking whether his meetings with Epstein concerning Digital India had taken place in the room shown in the images.
“Recognise the room? Did your ‘Digital India’ meetings with Epstein (who you claimed you never met one-on-one) take place in this boudoir?” she wrote on X, adding that he should stop attending Cabinet meetings.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Hello @HardeepSPuri – recognise the room? Did your “Digital India” meetings with Epstein (who you claimed you never met one on one) take place in this boudoir? Have some shame &amp; stop attending Cabinet meetings now at least. https://t.co/MzfjYzeeeD</p>— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) <a href=”https://x.com/MahuaMoitra/status/2112813492252369290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>October 21, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.x.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also questioned Puri’s account and criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for continuing to support the minister.
“What kind of people does Modi like and chooses to have around him?” Shrinate wrote, alleging that the government had failed to respond adequately to the controversy.
Didn’t Hardeep Puri say he had never met Epstein one-on-one? What kind of people does Modi like and chooses to have around him? Do you need any more proof – why RSS and the right-wing can never ever respect and treat women as equals? 📸 US Dept of Justice https://t.co/KLWlq9I9C0
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) October 20, 2026
Congress leader K.C. Venugopal separately criticised Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for what he described as their silence over the matter. He called for accountability over the allegations involving a Cabinet minister.
Modi did nothing despite knowing fully well about Hardeep Puri’s close ties with known international pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Truly disgusted by the latest revelations proving that Puri met Epstein in the same rooms where Epstein carried out his heinous crimes. Modi-Shah’s complete silence and inaction on this only points to their criminal indifference to such allegations against their own Cabinet Minister. What can women expect from a Government that shields and nurtures a man with close ties to the worst sexual predator known to human civilisation? There is also an urgent need for PM Modi to speak up on this issue, because US President Donald Trump has also declared that India and US are extremely close to signing a trade deal. Do these revelations have any bearings on the final contours of the deal? Given how lopsided the previous deal was, there is every chance that the Compromised PM will once again surrender India’s interests to shield himself and those close to him.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) October 21, 2026
TMC MP Saket Gokhale questioned the purpose of Puri’s meetings with Epstein, asking whose interests the minister had been representing in 2014, when Puri was a former diplomat and a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Epstein was convicted for “procuring a minor for prostitution” in June 2008. This photo is 2014 – 6 years AFTER. Everyone knew he was a convicted pedo. Question is on whose behalf was the then EX-Ambassador meeting Epstein? For himself or a bigger master? Who paid for it?
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) October 21, 2026
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut also questioned the circumstances of the meetings and asked whether Puri had been carrying a message on behalf of someone else.
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) spokesperson Anish Gawande described the photographs as “damning” and called on Puri to explain why he had met Epstein, including in a professional or diplomatic capacity.
Gawande said the details and content of the discussions should be made public, while adding that he believed Puri might not have known about the alleged abuses associated with Epstein’s private island.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan also questioned why Puri remained in the government despite the controversy. Former Union minister Subramanian Swamy called on Modi to publicly clarify the nature of Puri’s engagement with Epstein.
Epstein was a wealthy American financier whose sexual abuse of underage girls became the subject of criminal proceedings and extensive public scrutiny.
In 2008, he pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges involving solicitation of prostitution, including from a minor, and registered as a sex offender. He served about 13 months in custody under a controversial plea agreement.
In July 2019, federal authorities arrested Epstein on sex-trafficking charges involving minors. He died by suicide in a New York jail the following month while awaiting trial.
On January 30, the DOJ released a large tranche of Epstein-related records, including more than three million pages of documents and hundreds of thousands of images.
