Elvish Yadav granted bail in snake venom case

Five days after being arrested in the snake venom case, Youtuber Elvish Yadav was granted bail by the Gautam Budh Nagar district court on Friday by furnishing two sureties of ₹50,000 each, officials said.
The bail application was heard by an additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) court in Surajpur, Greater Noida, officials added.
“The court heard the bail application and granted bail in the case. Yadav will have to furnish two bail bonds of ₹50,000 each which would be submitted in the court,” said Advocate Prashant Rathi, who represented Yadav in the court.
On November 3 last year, 26-year-old Yadav and five others were booked under the Wildlife (Protection) Act and Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Sector 49 police station for allegedly supplying snake venom to party revellers, allegedly for recreational use.
The five others, who were arrested on November 3, were later released on bail on November 22, 2023.
On March 17, Yadav, a resident of Wazirabad village in Gurugram, was arrested by the Noida Police in connection with a probe into the case. He was sent to 14-day judicial custody, by the local magistrate court.
Charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and sections 284 (negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substances) and 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animals) of the IPC were added to the existing FIR by the police, following a forensic report of 20ml liquid, suspected to be snake venom, recovered from the said party.
On March 20, his two associates – Ishwar and Vinay Yadav – were also arrested by the Noida Police in connection with the case.
During the hearing on Friday, Pradeep Kumar, additional district government counsel, opposed the bail in the court.
“A People for Animals (PFA) NGO’s welfare officer had filed an FIR in this regard. The informant said that Elvish used to shoot photos and videos with snakes in farmhouses in Delhi-NCR,” Kumar told the court.
The PFA members contacted Elvish on phone and asked him to arrange snakes and venom for a rave party in Noida, he added.
“Elvish asked the person to contact one Rahul, and also shared his contact number. Rahul agreed to supply snakes and venom and accordingly, he along with four persons – Titunath, Jaikaran, Narayan and Ravinath — visited a Noida-based farmhouse with snakes and venom when the police conducted a raid and busted this racket, and arrested the five people,” the government counsel told the court.
The prosecution said that the police recovered 20 ml snake venom, nine live snakes including five cobras, one python, one rat snake, etc. from their possession and argued there were sufficient evidence for Elvish’s involvement in this case.
However, Elvish’s lawyers Rathi and Deepak Bhati argued that Elvish was framed in this case.
“The police had not recovered any substance enlisted under the NDPS Act from our client. Moreover, as per provisions of the Wildlife Act, the complaint can only be filed by a government official and not by an NGO worker. The other five accused in this case, from whom the suspected narcotics recovery of 20 ml snake venom was recovered, are already out on bail. Hence, there was a solid ground for Elvish’s bail too,” Rathi told the court during the hearing.
Jaihind Kumar Singh, additional chief judicial magistrate, said that without commenting on the merits and demerits of this case, the accused has valid ground for consideration of bail.
“The accused is granted bail on two sureties of ₹50,000. The accused will cooperate in the investigation and will not violate the bail bonds,” said the order.
The court also granted bail to Yadav’s two associates who were arrested on Wednesday.
According to Arun Pratap Singh, the superintendent of District Jail, located in Luksar, Greater Noida, the jail has received the release order for Yadav from the court, but he will be produced before the Gurugram court for another case on Saturday.
“While we have received a release order, a production warrant for Yadav from the Gurugram Metropolitan court in another case also awaits him. On Saturday, Yadav will be released from the District Jail in Greater Noida and will be produced before the Gurugram court in another matter,” said the officer.