Court rejects Elvish Yadav’s plea to cancel summons in snake venom case, trial to proceed

YouTuber Elvish Yadav faced a legal setback on Monday after the Allahabad High Court dismissed his plea seeking the cancellation of the chargesheet and summons issued against him in the controversial snake venom case. The ruling means the case will now proceed to trial.

Justice Saurabh Srivastava, while issuing an oral dismissal, stated that multiple allegations in both the FIR and the chargesheet need to be examined in detail during the trial. The court observed that Yadav had only contested the chargesheet and summons, not the FIR itself.

Yadav’s counsel argued that the complainant who filed the FIR lacked legal authority under the Wildlife Act. He claimed the complainant had falsely claimed to be an Animal Welfare Officer and had no standing to initiate the case. The lawyer also contended that no narcotic or psychotropic substance was recovered from Yadav, and that he was not present at the party in question.

The prosecution, however, maintained that snake venom was indeed recovered from individuals allegedly supplied by Yadav. They emphasized that the evidence pointed to his direct involvement in facilitating the use of banned substances at rave parties in Noida.

With the High Court not finding merit in the plea, Yadav will now face trial on charges of organising parties where illegal substances, including snake venom, were allegedly distributed and consumed. The case includes claims that even foreign nationals were among those exposed to the substances.