Saket court summons affixed at Dhruv Rathee’s Gurugram home in 2018 defamation case filed by BJP IT cell member

A court at Delhi’s Saket complex has issued fresh summons to YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in a criminal defamation complaint that has been pending since 2018, and the summons was subsequently affixed to the gate of his house in Gurugram, according to reports by PTI, The Statesman and UNI.

Who filed the case and why

The complainant is Vikas Sankrityayan, also known as Vikas Pandey, who describes himself as a member of the BJP’s IT cell. His complaint concerns a 2018 YouTube video by Rathee titled “BJP IT Cell Part 2”. Bar and Bench reported that the video, made in May 2018, alleged that the IT cell had tried to pay Pandey to defame the YouTuber. Pandey says the allegations in the video were “false and fabricated”, according to The Statesman. Rathee was first summoned in the case in July 2019, but the summons could not be served on him for years.

The fresh summons

Judicial Magistrate Rahul Jain passed the order on 12 October, PTI reported via ThePrint. Pandey’s lawyer told the court that Rathee usually lives in Austria and had travelled to India for protests by the Cockroach Janta Party in Delhi, and asked that a new summons be issued so it could be served quickly. The court noted that the complainant “has been trying to serve the accused no. 1 (Rathee) since the last several years” and directed service at his Gurugram address.

• Court: Saket court, Delhi
• Complainant: Vikas Pandey (Vikas Sankrityayan)
• Fresh summons ordered: 12 October 2026
• Next hearing: 17 October 2026, according to The Statesman

The complainant’s side said personal service did not succeed, after which the papers were pasted at the house, The Statesman and UNI reported. The court had allowed the complainant to accompany the official serving them. Affixing a summons is a step in the process and says nothing about guilt. Reports differ on the name of Pandey’s counsel: PTI named Advocate Samaksh Sharma, while The Statesman named Advocate Sushant Kumar. Rathee’s response to the service was not available.

London protest call

Rathee has meanwhile said on X that he has reached London and asked supporters to gather at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square at noon to raise allegations about India’s electoral rolls. “It is time to make the issue resonate internationally,” he wrote, according to Business Today. Reports differ on the date: Business Today indicated Saturday, 17 October, while The Daily Jagran gave 18 October. Earlier, on 10 October, he was detained at his Gurugram home ahead of a planned Cockroach Janta Party protest and released after about 18 hours, both outlets reported.

Sources: ThePrint (PTI), Bar and Bench, The Statesman, UNI, Business Today, The Daily Jagran