Court exempts four accused from prosecution in rave party case

Mumbai: The special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act court on Monday granted `immunity from prosecution` to four persons arrested in the 2012 Juhu rave party case.

IPL players Rahul Sharma and Wayne Parnell are among the accused in the case. The court on Monday granted immunity to Yuvraj Bhatia, Karan Chawala, Sneha Talreja and Mohammed Hussain. The NDPS act provides that a person charged with possession of a small quantity of drug can avoid prosecution if he or she is willing to undergo de-addiction treatment at a government-recognised hospital. These four are the first among the accused to get such an immunity. In May last year, police raided a party at a hotel in suburban Juhu, where drugs were allegedly being consumed, and rounded up 86 people. The charge-sheet in the case names Vishay Handa, the director of the hotel, DJs Deepesh Sharma and Rakesh Sharma, actor couple Apurva and Shilpa Agnihotri, and IPL cricketers Rahul Sharma and Wayne Parnell, among others. Agnihotris too have sought immunity from prosecution and their applications are likely to be decided next week. PTI