Youtuber Dhruv Rathee has been summoned by the Saket Court in Delhi in response to a defamation suit filed by BJP Mumbai unit spokesperson, Suresh Karamshi Nakhua. On July 19, 2024, District Judge Gunjan Gupta issued the summons and a notice under Order 39, Rule 1 and 2 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC). Rathee and relevant social media intermediaries are required to appear on August 6, 2024. Advocates Raghav Awasthi and Mukesh Sharma are representing Nakhua in this matter.
The defamation complaint centers around a video Rathee posted on July 7, 2024. According to the lawsuit, the video has amassed over 24 million views and more than 2.3 million likes. Nakhua claims that Rathee’s video inaccurately labeled him as a “violent and abusive troll.” The video also allegedly suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hosted Nakhua and others described as violent trolls at his official residence.
Nakhua contends that the video’s false assertions have resulted in widespread condemnation and ridicule, severely affecting his personal and professional life. Nakhua is seeking Rs 20 lakhs in damages for the defamation caused.
The defamation lawsuit follows another recent legal challenge for Rathee. Maharashtra’s nodal cyber police have registered a case against him for a post on his parody account on X (formerly Twitter). The post, which falsely claimed that Anjali Birla, daughter of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, had cleared the UPSC examination without taking the test, has been criticized for spreading misinformation.