Telangana HC quashes Madhapur drug case against actor Navdeep; no concrete evidence, says court

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday granted major relief to actor Navdeep Pallapolu by quashing the criminal proceedings pending against him in the Madhapur drug case, holding that the continuation of the case would amount to an abuse of process of law.

No contraband was seized from Navdeep

The case stems from an alleged drug syndicate unearthed by narcotics police approximately three years ago, in which 12 persons were arrested.

Though no contraband was seized from Navdeep, the police issued notices to him for questioning and later included his name in the chargesheet, allegedly based on his purported links with one Ramchand, an accused drug peddler.

‘False implication’

Appearing for the petitioner, senior counsel E Venkata Siddhartha argued that Navdeep was falsely implicated, as his name did not figure in the complaint, final report or statements recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

He submitted that no drugs were recovered from the petitioner and no specific role was attributed to him. The counsel emphasised that the proceedings were initiated without any substantive evidence connecting the actor to the alleged offences.

‘Case needs a full trial’

Opposing the plea, Additional Public Prosecutor V Jithendar Rao contended that the matter should be decided after a full trial and that the court should not intervene at this stage of the proceedings.

After examining the record, the Court found that there were no allegations against the petitioner and no contraband was seized from him.

The court noted that the prosecution had failed to establish any prima facie case against the actor. Relying on the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in State of Haryana vs Bhajan Lal, the Court held that the proceedings were liable to be quashed as continuing them would result in abuse of the process of law.

Accordingly, the Criminal Petition was allowed, bringing an end to the prosecution against the actor.

The Criminal Petition was filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking quashment of proceedings on the file of the II Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Hyderabad, Nampally. Navdeep was arrayed as Accused No. 29 for offences under various Sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

The judgment provides relief to Navdeep and underscores the principle that criminal proceedings cannot be sustained merely based on alleged associations without any concrete evidence of involvement in the alleged offences.