The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed an FIR and subsequent proceedings against YouTuber Elvish Yadav over alleged use of snake venom at a rave party in Noida in 2023, saying the case cannot be sustained in law.The case against Yadav was registered on November 22, 2023, and he was arrested on March 17, 2024. The top court had stayed proceedings in the trial court against Yadav in the case on August 6, 2025.A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh passed the order on Thursday after senior counsel Mukta Gupta and advocate Raman Yadav submitted that the alleged psychotropic substance i.e. snake venom antidote recovered from a co-accused did not fall within the Schedule of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.The bench noted that the substance in question was not covered under the statutory schedule and that no recovery had been made from Yadav himself as the chargesheet only alleged that he placed orders for it through an associate.The bench also took note of the fact that the offences under the IPC invoked in the FIR against Yadav were based on an earlier FIR registered in Gurugram, in which a closure report had already been filed.The bench clarified that it has confined itself to two specific questions — applicability of Section 2(23) of the NDPS Act, and the validity of proceedings under Section 55 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.Noting that Section 55 said a prosecution can be initiated under the Wildlife Protection Act only through a complaint filed by a duly authorised officer, the bench pointed out that the complainant was a former employee of Wildlife Board of India and therefore not an authorised person under the Act to lodge a complaint.However, it granted liberty to the competent authority to initiate appropriate proceedings in accordance with law by filing a proper complaint under Section 55 of the 1972 Act.Holding that the case against YouTuber Elvish Yadav cannot be sustained in law, the top court quashed the FIR and subsequent proceedings, including filing of the chargesheet and cognisance order of the trial court.The YouTuber had challenged an Allahabad High Court order refusing to quash the chargesheet and the cognisance order of the trial court terming it a serious offence.On February 18, the top court indicated that it would examine a complaint against Yadav under the Wildlife (Protection) Act in the snake venom case and observed that if popular persons are allowed to use “voiceless victims” like snakes, it could send a “very bad message” to society.The chargesheet alleged the consumption of snake venom as a recreational drug at “rave” parties by people, including foreigners. Yadav’s counsel argued in the high court that no snakes, narcotic or psychotropic substances were recovered from him. Besides, no causal link was established between the applicant and the co-accused.