Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 17: A Delhi court on Saturday issued a bailable warrant against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in an eight-year-old criminal defamation case filed by Vikas Pandey, after fresh summons could not be served as his residence was found locked.
The Saket Courts passed the order after being informed that service of summons on Rathee remained incomplete. The court has scheduled the next hearing for October 31.
Earlier this month, the court had permitted fresh summons to be served on Rathee through dasti service, allowing the complainant to accompany the process server to facilitate the delivery of the notice. However, the court was subsequently informed that the summons could not be served as the premises of Rathee's residence was locked, prompting it to issue the bailable warrant.
The case relates to a video titled 'BJP IT Cell Part 2', which allegedly defamed Pandey. The video was also retweeted by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal in 2018, who later acknowledged before the Supreme Court that he had made a mistake by sharing it.
Pandey, founder of the social media page 'I Support Narendra Modi', had alleged that the retweet had tarnished his reputation.
Proceedings against Rathee have remained pending amid repeated difficulties in serving summons since 2019. The complainant has claimed that Rathee's continued absence from India delayed the case. Rathee ordinarily resides in Austria.
The matter had also reached the Supreme Court in connection with Kejriwal's challenge to the criminal defamation proceedings arising from the retweet.
In February 2024, Kejriwal told the apex court that he had made a mistake by sharing the video. A Bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who later became Chief Justice of India and has since retired, and Justice Dipankar Datta had stayed the trial court proceedings against Kejriwal while hearing his plea challenging the Delhi High Court's refusal to quash the summons issued against him.
The Delhi High Court had earlier upheld the summoning order, observing that retweeting allegedly defamatory content could attract prosecution under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).