Elvish Yadav granted interim relief by Supreme Court in snake venom case

New Delhi: YouTuber Elvish Yadav was granted a significant reprieve on Wednesday (August 6) after the Supreme Court of India issued a stay on all trial court proceedings against him in the high-profile snake venom case. The relief was extended by a bench led by Justice MM Sundresh, which also issued notices concerning the Bigg Boss OTT winner’s plea challenging the FIR, the extensive chargesheet, and the summoning order previously passed by the trial court.

The controversial case is rooted in an FIR filed in November 2023 and involved allegations that Elvish had orchestrated rave parties where snake venom was allegedly used as an intoxicant. A police raid was conducted soon after the complaint was filed by members of the animal rights NGO People For Animals, which led to the seizure of nine snakes, including cobras and kraits, along with 20ml of snake venom at a banquet hall in Noida’s Sector 51 area.

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Elvish, 27, was taken into custody on March 17 last year and was charged under several provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, sections 284 and 289 of the Indian Penal Code, Section 120A (criminal conspiracy), and relevant clauses of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. He was remanded for 14 days before being released on bail.

In the plea filed before the apex court, Elvish’s legal team, consisting of Advocates Shahrukh Ali, Raman Yadav, and Aman Jha, asserted that no valid complaint had been submitted by a competent wildlife officer. They argued that the police lacked the legal mandate to investigate or file a chargesheet under the Wildlife Protection Act.

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It was also stated in the petition that, at the time the FIR was registered, the YouTuber hadn’t been present at the venue and that no physical recovery of venom, snakes, or drugs had been made from him. “As there is no legally admissible complaint against the petitioner, the disclosure statement alone cannot form the basis for prosecution,” the plea read.

Further, the petition took issue with the Allahabad High Court’s refusal to quash the chargesheet, noting that the court had overlooked whether the essential elements of the alleged offences were substantiated.