HC stays drug case againstTelugu actor Kolla Hema

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1 2 Bengaluru: The high court has stayed further proceedings against Telugu actor Kolla Hema in a drug abuse case registered against her following a raid on a rave party in Bengaluru in May last year. "It is submitted that the petitioner was chargesheeted for the offences punishable under Section 27(b) of the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act only on the confession statement of a co-accused. There is no corroborative material to substantiate that the petitioner consumed MDMA at the rave party.

Hence, the govt advocate is directed to take notice for the respondent-state," vacation judge Justice Hemant Chandanagoudar observed in his interim order passed Tuesday while allowing the interlocutory application (IA) filed by the actor seeking a stay on the proceedings. Hema was arrested on June 3 last year by Central Crime Branch police after she failed to appear for investigation. She was charged with consumption of narcotic drugs, giving false names and phone numbers during the raid, prior knowledge about the banned substances at the rave party, and attempts to mislead the investigation by making video statements.



The rave party was held at a farmhouse near Electronics City, and it is alleged that more than 80 attendees consumed drugs. Hema was later released on bail about 10 days after her arrest. In Sept last year, police filed a detailed chargesheet against 87 people, including Hema.

The actor claimed that no drugs were seized from her and she was arraigned as an accused based on the statement of a co-accused. She said her medical examination was done several days after her arrest. Apart from seeking the quashing of the chargesheet and further proceedings pending before the 8th additional district and sessions judge and special judge for NDPS cases, Bengaluru Rural, the actor in the interregnum prayed for a stay on the proceedings against her through an IA, which has now been allowed.

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