The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to Kannada actor Ragini Dwivedi, who was arrested nearly four months ago in a drug case for alleged consumption and distribution of drugs at events organised by her.
The bench headed by Justices R.F. Nariman, Navin Sinha, and K.M. Joseph observed that the petitioner consumed certain drugs in parties and no charge-sheet has been filed till date.
The bench noted that Section 37 of the NDPS Act under IPC has been wrongly invoked against the actor since no offence has been made out except for consuming drugs under Section 27. Therefore, it is a case in which bail must follow.
The top court set aside the order of the Karnataka High Court and enlarged the petitioner on bail.
Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Dwivedi, had submitted that there was not a single recovery of contraband. He said there was no evidence of consumption of a commercial quantity.
The plea was filed against Karnataka High Court order dismissing bail applications of Kannada film actor Ragini Dwivedi and Shivaprakash in connection with the Sandalwood Drugs Case. The actor along with others were arrested by the Bengaluru Central Crime Branch Police in September this year.
The actors have been booked under Sections 21, 21 C, 27B, 27A, 29 of NDPS Act and other sections under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for their alleged association with an international drug peddling racket that revolved around supplying psychedelic drugs to customers at big-ticket events and rave parties.