Delhi court issues bailable warrants against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in 2018 defamation case

A Delhi court on Saturday issued bailable warrants against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in a 2018 defamation case after a process server reported that his house was locked while attempting to serve a summons notice. Judicial Magistrate Rahul Jain of the Saket court issued the warrants in the case filed by Vikas Sankrityayan, also known as Vikas Pandey, over a video uploaded to Rathee’s YouTube channel. (The Hindu)

The case stems from Rathee’s May 2018 video “BJP IT Cell Part II”, in which he allegedly claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Information Technology cell had attempted to bribe Pandey to defame him. The video was retweeted by Arvind Kejriwal, who was then Delhi’s chief minister; defamation proceedings were subsequently initiated against both Rathee and Kejriwal. (Bar & Bench; The Times of India)

The court had ordered fresh summons on October 12 after the complainant’s counsel, advocate Samaksh Sharma, submitted that summons had remained unserved for several years because Rathee primarily lives abroad, while he was then staying at a residence in Gurugram, Haryana. The magistrate noted that Rathee was first summoned on July 23, 2019, and directed the matter to be listed for further proceedings on October 31, 2026. (The Times of India; The Quint)