Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has quashed the criminal proceedings against Kannada actress Ragini Dwivedi in a drug case, saying the prosecution could not substantiate the charges with material evidence.

The bench of Justice Hemant Chandanagoudar also quashed the proceedings against the co-accused Prashant Ranka.

It said, “However, to substantiate the charges against the petitioners, the prosecution has not produced any material evidence to prove that the petitioners organized parties or sold drugs, apart from the voluntary statements of the co-accused and chargesheet witnesses.”

“Therefore, the continuation of the criminal proceedings against the petitioners will be an abuse of the legal process of law,” Justice Chandanagoudar observed.

Ragini was among the many celebrities from the Kannada film industry arrested in September 2020.

A case was registered against her at the Cottonpet police station based on a statement by a co-accused B K Ravishankar on September 4, 2020.