A Delhi court has issued a bailable warrant against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee in an eight-year-old criminal defamation case filed by Vikas Pandey, after being informed that a fresh summons issued could not be served as the premises of his residence was found locked.

The Saket Courts passed the order on Saturday after being apprised that the service of summons on Rathee remained incomplete.

The court has now listed the matter for further hearing on October 31. In an order passed earlier this month, the court had permitted fresh summons to be served on Rathee through dasti service, allowing the complainant to accompany the process server to facilitate service.

Despite the steps taken, the court was informed that the notice could not be served as the premises of Rathee’s house was locked, leading to the issuance of the bailable warrant.

The case pertains to a video titled ‘BJP IT Cell Part 2’, which allegedly defamed Pandey.

The video was also retweeted by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal in 2018, who later acknowledged before the Supreme Court that he had made a mistake by retweeting it.

Pandey, the founder of the social media page ‘I Support Narendra Modi’, had claimed that the retweet had tarnished his reputation.

The proceedings against Rathee had remained pending amid repeated difficulties in serving summons on him since 2019, with the complainant claiming that his continued absence from India had delayed the case.

Rathee ordinarily resides in Austria.

The matter had also reached the Supreme Court in connection with Kejriwal’s challenge to the criminal defamation proceedings arising from the retweet.

In February 2024, Kejriwal told the apex court that he had made a mistake by sharing the video. A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, who later became Chief Justice of India (CJI) and has since retired, and Dipankar Datta had stayed the trial court proceedings against Kejriwal while hearing his plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s refusal to quash the summons issued against him.

The Delhi High Court had earlier upheld the summoning order, observing that retweeting allegedly defamatory content could attract prosecution under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Left-Wing women’s organisations on Saturday staged a protest outside the Delhi Police Headquarters against the alleged detention of women journalists and protestors during recent demonstrations in the national Capital, accusing the Delhi Police of targeting women and demanding an immediate end to their alleged “harassment”.

A large number of women activists and representatives of various organisations gathered outside the Delhi Police headquarters, raising slogans against the police action and questioning the detention of women participating in the ongoing protests.

The demonstrators also reiterated their demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the controversy surrounding the revision of electoral rolls and people allegedly being left out of the list.

Holding banners and raising slogans against the alleged police excesses, the protesters demanded accountability from the Delhi Police and called for women journalists and activists to be allowed to exercise their democratic rights without facing what they described as intimidation or harassment.

The demonstration was attended by members and representatives of several organisations, including the Student Federation of India (SFI), All India Mahila Samskritik Sanghatan (AIMSS) and Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), among others.

According to the protesters, several women journalists and female demonstrators have been detained by the Delhi Police during the ongoing protests in the national Capital.

They alleged that such action had raised serious concerns about the treatment of women participating in public demonstrations and questioned the manner in which the police were handling the protests.

“We have never seen such incidents in this country where women protestors are facing sexual harassment at the hands of police. During recent protests, we have seen incidents of police touching the women protestors’ body parts inappropriately; this is something that never happened before,” an activist told media.

“The brutality shown by the Delhi Police should stop. No one can stop us from protesting against the ECI; this is our democratic right. We cannot tolerate the shamelessness shown by the police towards the women protesters,” another said.

Another activist, speaking to media, said, “The women of this country will not tolerate this kind of harassment for simply demanding their rights. This is not fair, and we will continue to raise our voice against the harassment by the Delhi Police.”

The activists also expressed anger over the detention of All India Students’ Association (AISA) President Neha Bora, claiming that she was kept at a police station for several hours late on Saturday.

During the demonstration, the protesters called on the Delhi Police to ensure that women participating in protests were treated in accordance with the law and that their rights were respected.

Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, on Saturday congratulated the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for its victory in the Odisha student union elections, saying the results conveyed a clear message that the country’s youth stood firmly with the ‘Nation First’ ideology.

In a post on X, HM Shah said the ABVP’s victories in 13 universities in Odisha, following its success at Panjab University and Delhi University, reflected the youth’s support for nationalism.

“Heartfelt congratulations to all the karyakartas of @abvpodisha for achieving a resounding victory in the Odisha Student Parliament elections. First Panjab University, then Delhi University, and now in 13 universities of Odisha, this victory of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad clearly conveys the message that the youth power of the country is firmly aligned not with the powerful forces that spread falsehoods, illusions, and chaos, but with the ‘Nation First’ ideology,” Shah posted.

Earlier on Friday, BJP President Nitin Nabin also congratulated the ABVP candidates who emerged victorious in the student union elections held across colleges and universities in Odisha, saying the victory reflected the youth’s faith in nationalism and national interest.

“Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to all the victorious candidates and dedicated workers on the resounding victory of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in the student union elections held in Odisha,” Nabin said.

The BJP President said the ABVP’s performance in the campus polls indicated the rejection of what he described as the politics of anarchy.

“This victory reflects the unwavering faith of the youth in nationalism and national interests, rejecting the politics of spreading anarchy in the name of young people. Inspired by the ideals of Swami Vivekananda, the youth of India today are moving forward with a resolve to build the nation and are committed to playing an important role in realising the goal of Viksit Bharat @ 2047,” Nabin added.

The campus polls were held in Odisha on October 15 after a gap of eight years.

Student union elections were conducted in 337 higher education institutions across the state, recording an overall voter turnout of 56 per cent.

According to the data provided, a total of 3,610 candidates emerged victorious in the elections, including 3,453 from colleges and 157 from universities.