New Delhi: A Delhi court has issued fresh summons to YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in an eight-year-old criminal defamation case filed by Vikas Pandey over a video titled 'BJP IT Cell Part 2', with the influencer now physically served at his residence in Gurugram.
The order and the case
Judicial Magistrate Rahul Jain of the Saket District Court passed the order on October 12. In it, the court acknowledged prolonged attempts to serve summons on Rathee, who ordinarily resides in Austria, and permitted fresh summons through dasti service, allowing the complainant to accompany the process server. The matter will next be heard on October 17.
The case relates to the complainant's allegation that the 2018 video was defamatory. Proceedings against Rathee had remained pending amid unsuccessful attempts to serve him since 2019, with the complainant maintaining that his continued absence from India had stalled the case. The same video was retweeted in 2018 by then-Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who later told the Supreme Court he had made a mistake by sharing it. In February 2024, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta stayed the trial court proceedings while hearing Kejriwal's plea challenging the Delhi High Court's refusal to quash the summons against him.
Served while in India
The summons comes while Rathee is in India to participate in the ongoing CJP protests in Delhi over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls. According to NDTV, Rathee was detained at his Gurugram home on October 10 in what Delhi Police described as a preventive action, and he later alleged on Instagram that plainclothes police in unmarked cars followed him — an allegation Delhi Police had not responded to at the time of reporting.
Sources:
- Dhruv Rathee Gets Delhi Court Summons In Case Over 2018 'BJP IT Cell' Video — NDTV
- Delhi court summons Dhruv Rathee in 2018 defamation case — Lokmat Times (IANS)
The order and the case
Judicial Magistrate Rahul Jain of the Saket District Court passed the order on October 12. In it, the court acknowledged prolonged attempts to serve summons on Rathee, who ordinarily resides in Austria, and permitted fresh summons through dasti service, allowing the complainant to accompany the process server. The matter will next be heard on October 17.
The case relates to the complainant's allegation that the 2018 video was defamatory. Proceedings against Rathee had remained pending amid unsuccessful attempts to serve him since 2019, with the complainant maintaining that his continued absence from India had stalled the case. The same video was retweeted in 2018 by then-Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who later told the Supreme Court he had made a mistake by sharing it. In February 2024, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta stayed the trial court proceedings while hearing Kejriwal's plea challenging the Delhi High Court's refusal to quash the summons against him.
Served while in India
The summons comes while Rathee is in India to participate in the ongoing CJP protests in Delhi over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls. According to NDTV, Rathee was detained at his Gurugram home on October 10 in what Delhi Police described as a preventive action, and he later alleged on Instagram that plainclothes police in unmarked cars followed him — an allegation Delhi Police had not responded to at the time of reporting.
Sources:
- Dhruv Rathee Gets Delhi Court Summons In Case Over 2018 'BJP IT Cell' Video — NDTV
- Delhi court summons Dhruv Rathee in 2018 defamation case — Lokmat Times (IANS)
