Saket court issues fresh summons to Dhruv Rathee in 2018 defamation case, notice to Gurugram address

A Delhi court at Saket has issued fresh summons against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in a defamation case pending since 2018. Rathee is reported to have come to India for the CJP movement, and the old case has resurfaced in the meantime.

The order came during a hearing on a plea by the complainant, Vikas Pandey. Pandey claims he was defamed by Rathee's YouTube video "BJP IT Cell Part 2". According to him, the video linked him to the BJP's IT cell and alleged that he had offered someone Rs 50 lakh, which damaged his reputation. On these allegations he filed a criminal defamation complaint against Rathee. The allegations are the complainant's, and the court has not given any final ruling on them.

During the hearing, Pandey's lawyers told the court that there was difficulty in serving the summons on Rathee. They said Rathee lives mostly in Austria, so the process of serving the summons was being delayed. The court then asked for fresh summons to be issued at his address in Sector 56, Gurugram, and directed that service of the summons be completed quickly.

At the request of the complainant's lawyers, the court has also reportedly permitted a "dasti summons" to be sent. Under this method, as per the legal rules, the complainant or his representative can take on the responsibility of delivering the summons personally.

Meanwhile, there is growing discussion on social media over whether an attempt is being made to entangle Rathee, who lives in Germany and has come to India for the movement, in this case.

Rathee has also been in the news over his participation in the movement. In connection with a proposed protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi in October, he had claimed that he was detained by police. According to a claim he made on social media on October 11, plainclothes policemen took him from his home in Gurugram and kept moving him between different police stations.

Rathee had also said that he came to India to join the proposed protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. On the discussion about his citizenship, he had clarified that he is an Indian citizen and holds an Indian passport. Further court proceedings in the matter are now seen as important.