Elvish Yadav, a popular YouTuber, had approached the Allahabad High Court to dismiss the chargesheet and summons issued in connection with the snake venom case. His lawyers claimed that he was wrongly implicated and was only present as a performer at the event.
Allahabad: Today, 12th May: The Allahabad High Court has rejected the petition filed by YouTuber Elvish Yadav, who had asked for the quashing of the chargesheet and summons issued against him in the snake venom case.
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Justice Saurabh Srivastava passed the order, while hearing arguments presented by Senior Advocate Navin Sinha and Advocate Nipun Singh, who appeared for Elvish Yadav.
Senior Advocate Navin Sinha argued that the FIR was not valid, as the complainant Gaurav Gupta was not legally authorised to file a complaint under the Wildlife Protection Act.
He told the court,
“The FIR was filed by a person named Gaurav Gupta, who is not legally authorised to file a complaint under the Wildlife Act. My client was not present at the spot, and nothing was found with us. They are only saying that some other person was found with certain things.”
In response, the Court asked,
“Inka Role kya hai phir??” (Then what is his role?)
Appearing on behalf of the state, Additional Advocate General (AAG) Manish Goel responded by saying,
“The applicant gave the snakes to the people from whom they were later recovered. During the investigation, it was found that the applicant was the one who supplied them.”
Surprised by this information, the Court remarked,
“Where did this come from? This is the first time we are seeing that even snake venom has suppliers. Do they provide this at parties?”
To this, AAG Manish Goel replied,
“You must have seen in the news that drinking too much can cause people to die.”
The Court then questioned further:
“Kisi ka statement hai?” (Is there any statement?)
AAG Manish Goel answered that the statements were present in the FIR and the chargesheet.
Justice Srivastava confirmed,
“Yes, the statement is there.”
Still denying the allegations, Senior Advocate Navin Sinha stated,
“We are not the suppliers.”
However, AAG Manish Goel pushed back, saying,
“These are snake charmers who help organize such things. They are involved in arranging snakes for rave parties.”
He further warned the court,
“Allowing such behavior for any person will lead to situations like ‘Udta Punjab’ or ‘Udta UP’.”
Trying to distance Elvish Yadav from the incident, Navin Sinha said,
“I was also called by the name Elvish Yadav. I don’t know who was organizing my program. I was just a performer there.”
To this, AAG Manish Goel sharply countered,
“You are the organizer of Rave Party.”
In a moment of dry wit, the Court said,
“It means you are wrongly accused, you weren’t present.”
Finally, Senior Advocate Navin Sinha insisted,
“There is no case against me.”
However, the Court concluded the hearing by saying,
“If there was no case against you, you should have challenged the FIR. Since you haven’t challenged it, the petition is dismissed.”
