Why did the Delhi court issue a fresh bail order for Dhruv Rathee in the case filed by Vikas Sankrtyayan? All about the | Today’s news
A Delhi court has granted fresh bail to YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in a criminal defamation case filed by social media activist Vikas Sankrityayan, also known as Vikas Pandey, over a video uploaded in 2018, the Bar and Bench said.
Judicial Magistrate First Class Rahul Jain, presiding over the Saket court, issued the arrest warrant after Rathee failed to appear for the hearing.
According to the Bar and Bench, the court noted that the earlier bail order, issued on October 17, could not be executed because it was sent to the wrong address in Austria. He subsequently ordered that a fresh warrant be issued at Rathee’s Gurugram address.
After reportedly being informed that Rathee had already left India, the court questioned the urgency of issuing the warrant. “Ab itni jaldbazi ka koi logica hai?” the court noted, according to the Bar and Bench.
The next hearing of the case is scheduled for November 23.
What is the Dhruv Rathee defamation case?
The defamation case dates back to May 2018 when Rathee uploaded a video on social media alleging that the IT cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had tried to bribe Sankrtyayaan to defame him.
Sankrtyayan subsequently filed a criminal complaint against Rathee for defamation, claiming that the allegations in the video were false and damaged his reputation.
The video was also shared by Arvind Kejriwal who was the Chief Minister of Delhi then. Sankrityayan initiated defamation proceedings against both Rathee and Kejriwal.
The case remains pending as of 2018. It is the same case in which Kejriwal, who shared the video, subsequently apologized in the Supreme Court.
However, proceedings against Rathee, who originally uploaded the video, continued in the trial court.
What happened before the new injunction?
A Saket court granted bail against Rathee on October 17 after he failed to appear before it.
However, according to the Bar and Bench, the warrant could not be executed because it was sent to the wrong address in Austria.
At a hearing on October 31, the court, after being informed of the error, ordered the issuance of a new arrest warrant for Rathee’s Gurugram address.
The proceedings took another turn when the court was informed that Rathee had already left India.
Who is Vikas Sankrityayan aka Vikas Pandey?
Vikas Sankrityayan, popularly known as Vikas Pandey, is a social media activist associated with the online group ‘I Support NaMo’, which supports Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He is also active on X under the handle @MODifiedVikas.
Read also | Who is Vikas Pandey? Founder of ‘I Support NaMo’ who sued Dhruv Rathee
According to his Facebook profile, Sankrtyayan describes himself as a digital creator and writer from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. His areas of interest include social media abuse and fake news.
His X bio identifies him as a software architect associated with IBM India Software Labs. He also mentioned his involvement in online groups like ‘I Support NaMo’ and ‘Hindu IT Cell’.
What did Vikas Pandey say about the Dhruv Rathee case?
In a Facebook post, Sankrtyayan identified himself as one of the first targets of Rathee’s videos and accused the YouTuber of making false claims about him.
“I was one of the first victims of fake news peddler Dhruv Rathee,” he wrote.
