The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the FIR and all subsequent proceedings against Elvish Yadav under the Wildlife (Protection) Act – finding that the case registered by the Uttar Pradesh police in November 2023 was untenable on multiple legal grounds.
Why the Supreme Court dismissed the case
A bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh dissected the prosecution’s case on three different fronts.
First, the wildlife complaint at the heart of the FIR was filed by a person who was not an authorized person under the Wildlife Protection Act — a procedural flaw that the court found fatal in the case. Although the informant presented himself as an animal protection worker at the time of the application, he no longer held this position.
Second, the IPC offenses against Yadav were traced back to an earlier FIR registered in Gurugram – a case in which a final report had already been filed, essentially rendering those charges redundant.
Third, and perhaps most critically, the court found that the provisions of the Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act were inapplicable because the liquid substance recovered from the co-accused – identified as an anti-venom – did not qualify as a prescribed substance under the relevant schedule.
On the whole, the court concluded that the case against Yadav could not be sustained in law and quashed not only the FIR but also the criminal complaint and the order of the trial court.
From Rave Party allegations to national headlines
The case had its origins in a dramatic series of allegations. Elvish Yadav has been accused of facilitating the use of snake venom as a recreational drug at rave parties in Noida, Uttar Pradesh – an allegation that attracted widespread public attention given his celebrity status.
An FIR was registered on 22 November 2023. Yadav was subsequently arrested on 17 March 2024. The prosecution alleged that snake venom was consumed as an intoxicant at these rallies, with foreign nationals allegedly among the participants.
Due to Yadav’s status as a well-known influencer who appears in numerous reality television shows, his legal problems attracted, in the words of his own lawyer, “a lot of media attention”.
The Allahabad High Court refused to help
Before approaching the Supreme Court, Yadav challenged the charge sheet and the trial court’s order in the Allahabad High Court, which refused to quash the proceedings – characterizing the charge as a serious offence.
This refusal prompted Yadav to take the matter to the apex court, which stayed the trial on August 6 last year. Thursday’s ruling goes much further and completely wiped the slate clean.
The arguments of the defense that threw the trial
Elvish Yadav’s legal team consistently argued that the prosecution’s case was built on shaky foundations. The defense counsel argued before the high court that no snakes, narcotics or psychotropic substances were ever recovered from Yadav himself and no credible causal link was established between him and the co-accused.
The Supreme Court’s findings broadly vindicated this argument by conceding that the legal provisions invoked against him were either misapplied or factually unfounded.
