Delhi Court Issues Bailable Warrants Against Dhruv Rathee in 2018 Defamation Case

New Delhi: A Delhi court has issued bailable warrants against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in a 2018 defamation case filed by Vikas Sankrityayan, also known as Vikas Pandey, after a process server reported that the YouTuber’s residence was found locked during an attempt to serve the summons.

The court took note of the process server’s report and issued bailable warrants against Rathee. The matter has now been listed for further hearing on October 31.

The development comes days after the court issued fresh summons to Rathee at his Gurugram address following a plea by the complainant seeking expeditious service of the court process. The complainant’s counsel had submitted that earlier attempts to serve Rathee had remained unsuccessful for several years, as he primarily resides abroad.

The court had earlier noted that Rathee was initially summoned in July 2019. It had also permitted Pandey to accompany the process server to facilitate the execution of the summons.

The defamation proceedings arise from a video uploaded by Rathee in May 2018, in which he allegedly claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Information Technology cell had attempted to bribe Pandey to defame him.

The video, which was shared on Rathee’s social media handle, was subsequently retweeted by Arvind Kejriwal, who was the Chief Minister of Delhi at the time.

Pandey subsequently initiated defamation proceedings against both Rathee and Kejriwal over the allegations made in the video and its circulation.

The latest order marks a further development in the case, which has been pending for several years, with the court now directing the issuance of bailable warrants against Rathee following the unsuccessful attempt to serve the summons.

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