Delhi Court Issues Bailable Warrant Against Dhruv Rathee in Defamation Case

A Delhi court on Saturday issued a bailable warrant against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in a criminal defamation case filed by Vikas Pandey in 2018, after fresh summons could not be served because the premises of Rathee's residence were found locked.

The Saket Courts issued the warrant after being informed that the 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 through dasti service, under which the complainant could accompany the process server to facilitate delivery. However, the attempt failed after the process server found the premises locked, prompting the court to issue the bailable warrant.

The case stems from a video titled ‘BJP IT Cell Part 2’, which allegedly defamed Pandey, the founder of the social media page ‘I Support Narendra Modi’.

The video was also retweeted by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal in 2018. Pandey had alleged that the retweet damaged his reputation.

Proceedings against Rathee have faced repeated difficulties over the service of summons since 2019. The complainant has maintained that Rathee's continued absence from India has contributed to delays in the case. Rathee ordinarily resides in Austria.

The matter also reached the Supreme Court in connection with Kejriwal's challenge to the criminal defamation proceedings arising from his retweet of the video.

In February 2024, Kejriwal informed the Supreme Court that sharing the video had been a mistake. A Bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, who later became Chief Justice of India and has since retired, and Dipankar Datta stayed the trial court proceedings against Kejriwal while considering 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).

The bailable warrant against Rathee marks the latest development in the long-pending case, with the court set to take up the matter again later this month.

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