A Delhi Court on Friday summoned the notary who certified the document filed by BJP leader Suresh Nakhua in his defamation case against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee [Suresh Karamshi Nakhua vs. Dhruv Rathee]..District Judge Gunjan Gupta ordered the notary to appear before the Court on August 11. .The order was passed after Senior Advocate Satvik Verma and Advocate Nakul Gandhi appeared for Rathee and raised questions over the certificate filed by Nakhua under Section 63 (admissibility of electronic records as evidence) of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniya, 2023.They stated that the document was dated January 26 (Republic Day) which is a gazetted holiday.Further, they added there is a stamp of the notary without any date of attestation, which further raised apprehension over the authenticity of the document.Verma added that in the entire pendency of the litigation, such defects have been noted repeatedly and therefore, the notary must be summoned..Meanwhile, advocate Mukesh Sharma appeared for Nakhua and argued that the date of January 26 is marked due to an error and the document was certified on January 27. Sharma also highlighted the defects raised in the documents filed by Rathee.He said that he will place on record certain judgments supporting his contentions.The Court allowed him to do that..Nakhua, the spokesperson for the Mumbai unit of the BJP, has sued Rathee for defamation over a July 7 YouTube video on July 7 titled “My Reply to Godi Youtubers | Elvish Yadav | Dhruv Rathee."Nakhua objected to Rathee linking Nakhua to “violent and abusive trolls." As per Nakhua's suit, such allegations were made in the video without any “rhyme or reason” and affected his reputation.He argued that because of the allegations made by Rathee, he (Nakhua) faced widespread condemnation and ridicule.“The repercussions of such false allegations are manifold, extending well beyond the realm of the video itself to irrevocably impact both the personal and professional domains of the Plaintiff, leaving scars that may never fully heal," Nakhua contended. During a hearing of the matter in September, the Court had flagged a defect in an affidavit filed by Nakhua in the matter and asked him to file a fresh affidavit after curing this defect. Accordingly, an amended affidavit was filed. .The Court today also heard arguments on the applications filed by Rathee seeking dismissal of Nakhua’s suit.Verma argued that there was a justification behind Rathee calling Nakhua a violent and abusive troll” but it has not been shown to the court. “He says you have called me a ‘hinsak gaalibaz troll (violent, abusive troll)’. Why did I say this? There is a justification, but that image has not been shown to the court,” he said. He further argued that Rathee’s comment was based on Nakhua’s tweets and the defence of truth is available to him. “If there is a justification of defence or truth, then an injunctive relief cannot be granted,” he said. .Sharma countered these arguments, stating that he need not include every word in the plaint. “He [Rathee] says that the video made by him is for information. He is informing people that I am gaalibaz, violent and abusive,” he said. He added, “I am violent and abusive? I am 55% disabled. It is humanly impossible for me to be a violent person,” he stressed. The hearing will resume on August 8. .[Read Live Coverage]
