A Delhi court on Saturday issued a bailable warrant against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in a defamation case filed against him in 2018 regarding a video he had posted on his channel, reported Bar and Bench.
The case had been filed by Vikas Sankrityayan, alias Vikas Pandey, after Rathee posted a video in May 2018 alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s publicity wing had bribed the complainant to defame the YouTuber.
Then-Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had shared the video on social media.
On Saturday, Judicial Magistrate Rahul Jain of Saket Court was told that summons could not be served to Rathee earlier this week because his home was found locked, reported Bar and Bench.
On October 12, the court issued summons to Rathee after Pandey moved an application seeking early hearing of the matter on the grounds that the YouTuber, who otherwise lives abroad, was in India for protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, reported Live Law.
The next hearing is scheduled for October 31.
On October 10, Rathee was detained by the Delhi Police from Gurugram ahead of a protest by youth groups to demand the resignation of Kumar. The YouTuber had arrived in the national capital a day earlier to participate in the protest.
Edited by Sneha.
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