New Delhi, October 17, 2026 (JK Patrika): A Delhi court has issued bailable warrants against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in a defamation case dating back to 2018, after a process server reported that his residence was locked while attempting to serve a court summons. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on October 31, 2026.
Judicial Magistrate Rahul Jain of the Saket court issued the warrants in a complaint filed by Vikas Sankrityayan, also known as Vikas Pandey, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) IT Cell.
The case relates to a video uploaded by Rathee in May 2018, in which he allegedly claimed that the BJP’s IT Cell had attempted to bribe Pandey to defame him. The video was subsequently circulated on social media and retweeted by Arvind Kejriwal, who was the Chief Minister of Delhi at the time.
Pandey subsequently filed a defamation complaint against Rathee and Kejriwal in connection with the allegations and the circulation of the video.
The latest development follows an October 12 court order issuing fresh summons to Rathee at his Gurugram address. The complainant’s counsel had submitted that repeated attempts to serve the summons had been unsuccessful over several years.
The court had initially summoned Rathee in July 2019. According to submissions made on behalf of the complainant, Rathee primarily resides abroad but was in India at the time of the recent proceedings.
The bailable warrants were issued after the process server reported that Rathee’s residence was locked during the attempt to serve the summons. The court is scheduled to take up the matter again on October 31.
The case remains pending before the court, and the allegations are subject to judicial proceedings.
