Elvish Yadav, a popular YouTuber, was arrested on Sunday by the Noida police on charges of allegedly supplying snake venom to partygoers in Noida. However, his legal team has strongly contested the arrest, claiming it was wrongful and in violation of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Yadav’s lawyer, Prashant Rathi, argued that the Noida police had initially called Yadav for questioning as a witness under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). However, he alleges that Yadav was illegally detained and then arrested without being informed of the specific offence for which he was being arrested.
Rathi pointed out that since the case was registered in November, Yadav had cooperated with the police five times for questioning under Section 160 of CrPC. On the day of his arrest, Yadav was summoned for questioning but was allegedly unlawfully detained and arrested without proper justification.
The lawyer emphasized that the charges against Yadav under the WPA were baseless, as no contraband (snake venom) was recovered from him, and he was not even present at the party in question. Rathi also highlighted a violation of the WPA, as the complaint was filed by a member of an NGO instead of a government officer as required by the Act.
Regarding the NDPS Act charges added to the FIR, Rathi argued that no prohibited substance under NDPS was found with Yadav, and the snake venom in question is not listed as a psychotropic substance prohibited under the Act. He further stated that NDPS requires a separate FIR for its offences, which was not followed in this case.
In response, Vidyasagar Mishra, deputy commissioner of police, Noida, stated that the police would address these allegations in court as the matter is sub judice. Mishra maintained that all proceedings were conducted lawfully without any violations.
Sources By Agencies
