A Delhi court has ordered YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and two others to appear in a civil defamation case brought by Suresh Nakhua, spokesperson for the BJP’s Mumbai unit.
Nakhua alleges that Dhruv Rathee referred to him as one of “violent and abusive trolls” in a YouTube video, which is damaging his reputation and causing him harm.
In his lawsuit against Rathi, Google LLC, and X Corp (formerly Twitter), Nakhua claimed that on July 7, Rathi uploaded a video titled “My Reply to Godi Youtubers | Elvish Yadav | Dhruv Rathee,” in which he referred to Nakhua as part of violent and abusive trolls without any justification, aiming to damage his reputation.
In his suit, Nakhua stated, “Through this cunningly crafted video, a deliberate campaign to besmirch the Plaintiff’s integrity and reputation is apparent, as baseless accusations and malicious connections are artfully insinuated.” He also claimed that Rathee’s defamatory statements have severely damaged his reputation, causing irreparable harm to both his personal and professional life.
Nakhua stated that Rathee frequently engages in defamation, issues online threats, and undermines the careers of fellow YouTubers by leveraging his audience.
Nakhua requested a permanent injunction against Rathee, preventing him from posting, tweeting, publishing, creating, or sharing any derogatory and harmful content about him or the BJP on any online or offline platform. He also sought damages of ₹20,00,000 for the defamation caused to him.
He also requested that a permanent injunction be issued against Rathee, prohibiting him from contacting Nakhua or his colleagues in any manner.
