Dhruv Rathee in London as Delhi court issues bailable warrants in 2018 case

• A Delhi court issues bailable warrants against Dhruv Rathee in a 2018 criminal defamation case.

• The case stems from a video alleging that the BJP IT Cell spread fake news.

• Rathee has announced his arrival in London and called for a protest against alleged electoral irregularities in India.

A Delhi court has issued bailable warrants against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in a 2018 criminal defamation case filed by a BJP IT Cell member. However, Rathee has announced that he has arrived in London, where he has called for a protest against alleged electoral irregularities in India.

The case was filed by Vikas Sankrityayan, also known as Vikas Pandey, who founded the social media page 'I Support Narendra Modi'. It relates to Rathee's May 2018 video titled BJP IT Cell Part 2, which Pandey alleged contained false and defamatory claims about him.

According to reports, the complainant alleged that Rathee's video included a claim that he had offered Rs 50 lakh to someone to retract allegations about the BJP IT cell spreading fake news. These are allegations made in the complaint and have not been established by a court.

The court had first summoned Rathee in July 2019. However, the summons reportedly remained unserved for years, with the complainant's lawyer stating that Rathee lived abroad. The court was subsequently told that he was in India and staying at an address in Gurugram.

According to reports, a process server found Rathee's Gurugram residence locked while attempting to serve the summons. The court subsequently issued bailable warrants against him. The matter has been listed for 31 October.

Rathee said in a video posted on X that he had arrived in London and called on people to join a demonstration against alleged electoral fraud in India. The protest was announced for Sunday, 18 October, outside the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square.

The case also names Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, who had retweeted Rathee's video. The Supreme Court stayed proceedings against Kejriwal in February 2024 after his lawyer acknowledged that retweeting the video had been a mistake. The proceedings against Rathee continued.