A Delhi court on Saturday issued bailable warrants against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in a criminal defamation case filed in 2018 over his video titled “BJP IT Cell Part 2”.
Judicial Magistrate Rahul Jain of the Saket court issued the warrants after being informed that an attempt to serve an earlier court notice at Rathee’s Gurugram residence was unsuccessful because the premises were found locked. The matter has been listed for further hearing on October 31.
The complaint was filed by Vikas Sankrityayan, also known as Vikas Pandey, who alleged that the video contained defamatory claims about him. The video, published in May 2018, discussed allegations that the BJP’s Information Technology cell had attempted to bribe a person to withdraw claims that it spread fake news.
Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had retweeted the video, was also named in the defamation proceedings. He later apologised before the Supreme Court, while the case against Rathee continued.
Rathee had initially been summoned in July 2019. The complainant’s side has since sought further steps to ensure that the court process is served, citing repeated difficulties in reaching the YouTuber, who ordinarily resides abroad.
The bailable warrants relate to Rathee’s appearance in the ongoing proceedings. The allegations in the defamation complaint have not been established by a court.