Acress Ragini Dwivedi
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has quashed proceedings against actress Ragini Dwivedi and businessman Prashant Ranka in the sandalwood drug case. Justice Hemant Chandanagoudar observed that the prosecution has not produced any independent material evidence to the effect that the petitioners had organised parties or sold drugs.
On September 4, 2020, Cottonpet police had registered the FIR based on a suo motu complaint by KC Goutham, Assistant Commissioner of Police, (Anti-Narcotics Wing), Central Crime Branch (CCB). The information was based on the voluntary statement of BK Ravishankar, a co-accused in the case, recorded under section 67 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The information claimed consumption of narcotics at parties organised at various hotels and other locations frequented by celebrities, DJs and software engineers.
The police had filed the chargesheet on June 8, 2021, and Ragini Dwivedi and Prashant Ranka were arraigned as accused numbers 2 and 4, respectively for offences under sections 21, 21(C), 22(C), 27A, 27-B, and 29 of the NDPS Act and IPC sections 120(B) and 201. Challenging the proceedings, the petitioners argued that except for the voluntary statement of the co-accused, there is no corroborative evidence placed by the prosecution. The court noted that a specific charge against the petitioners is that they organised parties and distributed drugs to attendees at events organised on July 5, July 8 and July 17, 2020.
The court cited the Supreme Court judgement in Tofan Singh and State of Tamil Nadu case wherein the top court had dealt with section 67 of the NDPS Act. It was held that the confession statement of a co-accused cannot be equated with a statement made to the police under section 161 of the CrPC.
“However, to substantiate the charges against the petitioners, the prosecution has not produced any material evidence to prove that the petitioners organised parties or sold drugs, apart from the voluntary statements of the co-accused and charge sheet witnesses. Therefore, the continuation of the criminal proceedings against the petitioners will be an abuse of the legal process,” the court said.