YouTuber Elvish Yadav is presented in a Gurugram court. Stock Image | Photo Credit: PTI
The Supreme Court on Thursday (March 19, 2026) quashed the criminal case initiated by Uttar Pradesh against YouTuber Elvish Yadav in a Narcotics and Wildlife Protection Act case involving snake venom as legally unsustainable.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N. Kotiswar Singh found that the alleged “psychotropic substance” recovered from a co-accused in the case did not figure in the Schedule to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The court further found that the complaint filed in the case under the Wildlife Protection Act was not filed by an authorized officer. Section 55 of the Act requires that a court need not hear a complaint alleging a crime unless it has been filed by authorized officials, including the director of wildlife preservation; member secretary, central zoo authority; member secretary, tiger conservation authority; director of a tiger reserve; an officer of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Chief Wildlife Warden.
Senior advocate Mukta Gupta, representing Mr Yadav, informed the court that the complaint was filed by an individual associated with a private animal protection organisation.
He said the offenses under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) invoked in the FIR against Mr. Yadav were based on an earlier FIR registered in Gurugram, in which a closure report had been filed.
However, the court clarified that it was not giving Mr. Yadav a “clean chit”. The concerned authority was free to proceed against him following the correct procedure provided under the wildlife statute.
Justice Sundresh said that “if there is any procedural violation, it cannot be assumed that the appellant was given a good ticket.”
Ms. Gupta said her client would also be free to seek legal remedy should a new complaint be made.
The case against Mr. Yadav was registered on November 22, 2023 and he was arrested on March 17, 2024 for the alleged use of snake venom at a rave party in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
The controversial YouTuber had moved the high court against an Allahabad High Court order denying him relief by quashing the charge sheet in the case. The charge sheet alleged the consumption of snake venom as a recreational drug at rave parties by people, including foreigners.
On August 6 last year, the high court stayed trial court proceedings against Mr. Yadav in the case.
Published – March 19, 2026 02:29 pm IST