The next date in Dhruv Rathee’s 2018 defamation case is 31 October, and the court wants him there: after a process server found the address locked, the magistrate has issued bailable warrants.
New Delhi: The Saket Court issues bailable warrants against Dhruv Rathee in the criminal defamation complaint filed in 2018 by Vikas Sanskrityayan over a video titled “BJP IT Cell Part II”. The court was told that the notice had been taken to the address but the premises were found locked, and it moved from summons to warrants [Vikas Sanskrityayan v. Dhruv Rathee].
The order was passed on Saturday, 17 October 2026, by Judicial Magistrate First Class (South East) Rahul Jain of the Saket Courts. The matter will be heard next on 31 October 2026.
A locked address and a warrant
Before the court on 17 October was the process server’s report, which recorded that the notice had been carried to the premises and that they were found locked. On that report, the magistrate issued bailable warrants against Rathee, returnable on 31 October 2026.
A bailable warrant directs the police to produce the person before the court but allows release on furnishing bail as specified in the warrant. It is a step to secure attendance, not a finding on the complaint. Rathee may appear, or seek cancellation of the warrant, on the next date, and the court has not framed notice or recorded any finding against him.
What the complaint alleges
The complaint alleges that Rathee published and circulated a video that made several false claims about the complainant. These are the complainant’s allegations, which have not been tested, and the court has expressed no view on the merits. Rathee, who lives in Germany, is yet to appear in the case, and the complaint has moved slowly for years over service of process.
The fresh summons a few days earlier
Earlier in the week, on the complainant’s application to advance the hearing from 20 November, the magistrate had issued fresh summons. The complainant told the court that service had been delayed because Rathee lives abroad, that Rathee was in India in connection with the Cockroach Janta Party protest, and that he had information about an address in Haryana. The court allowed dasti service, which lets the complainant accompany the process server.
Other matters, kept apart
Rathee faces other defamation complaints before Delhi courts and is the subject of a separate Delhi High Court proceeding over a video concerning Hindu deities, in which the High Court gave the Centre a deadline to act on removal. Each of those matters is distinct from the Saket complaint, and the allegations in all of them remain untested, with the presumption of innocence applying.
Case Title: Vikas Sanskrityayan v. Dhruv Rathee (criminal defamation complaint of 2018)
Court: Judicial Magistrate First Class (South East) Rahul Jain, Saket Courts, Delhi
Date of Order: October 17, 2026; next hearing October 31, 2026