Delhi Court Issues Fresh Summons to YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in Defamation Case

A Delhi court has issued fresh summons to popular Indian YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in a criminal defamation case filed against him in 2018 over a video titled “BJP IT Cell Part 2.” The case was brought by Vikas Pandey, who alleges that the video contained defamatory statements about him. The fresh summons has been sent to Rathee’s residence in Gurugram. The next hearing is scheduled for October 17.

Judicial Magistrate Rahul Jain of the Saket District Court ordered the issuance of the fresh summons on October 12. Samaksh Sharma, counsel for Pandey, told the court that Rathee generally resides in Austria but is currently in India to attend a protest organised by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The application for fresh summons was made to ensure that the notice reached Rathee promptly.

A few days earlier, on October 10, Rathee had been detained at his residence in Sector 56, Gurugram. According to the report, around 50 police personnel arrived at his home. Delhi Police said the detention was a preventive measure because the protest had not received the required permission.

The demonstration was organised to protest alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and demand the resignation of India’s Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar. Rathee had also attended a CJP protest in Bengaluru two days before his detention.

In a video posted on Instagram on Wednesday, Rathee alleged that plainclothes police personnel followed him in an unregistered vehicle after he left his Gurugram home. He claimed that the police were monitoring his movements and that he had been warned he could be detained again if he attended another planned protest against Gyanesh Kumar at Jantar Mantar on October 16. Delhi Police had not responded to these allegations at the time of the report.

Pandey is the founder of a social media page called “I Support Narendra Modi.” He alleges that Rathee’s video identified him as a member of the BJP’s IT cell. According to Pandey, the video also claimed that he had offered, through an intermediary, to pay ₹5 million to a man named Mahavir Prasad in exchange for withdrawing allegations that the organisation spread fake news.

Pandey filed the case in 2018, arguing that these statements were defamatory. The allegations remain part of the ongoing court proceedings and should not be treated as established facts.