Delhi court issues fresh summons to YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in 2018 defamation case

A Delhi court on Monday issued fresh summons against Youtuber Dhruv Rathee in a 2018 defamation case filed by Vikas Sankrityayan, alias Vikas Pandey.

On October 12, Judicial Magistrate Rahul Jain from Saket Court allowed an application seeking early hearing and the issuance of dasti (by hand) summons against Rathee.

Advocate Samaksh Sharma for the complainant argued that summons had remained unserved for several years as Rathee primarily resides abroad. However, the court was informed that the YouTuber is currently in India and staying at a residence in Gurugram, Haryana.

The magistrate took note that Rathee was last summoned in 2019 and permitted the complainant Pandey to accompany the server to ensure prompt execution of the summons.

"From the available record, it is clear that the complainant (Pandey) has been trying to served the accused no 1 (Rathee) since last several years as the accused was initially summoned vide order dated 23.07.2019. In view of the submissions of the counsel for the complainant, let fresh summons be issued to accused no. 1 at the address mentioned above," the order reads.

The court directed the process fee to be filed within two days and scheduled the next hearing for October 17, 2026.

The case stems from a video made by Rathee in May 2018 alleging that the Information and Technology cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attempted to bribe the complainant Vikas Pandey to defame him.

The video tweeted on Rathee's handle was retweeted by the then Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal. This prompted Pandey to initiate defamation proceedings against both Kejriwal and Rathee.