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Shakti Kapoor's son gets clean chit in 2022 drug case
17 Jul 2026

The Karnataka High Court has quashed the criminal case against actor Shakti Kapoor's son, Siddhanth Kapoor, and two others for allegedly consuming drugs at a Bengaluru hotel party in 2022.

The police had charged them under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act on June 13, 2022.

Subsequently, the accused filed two petitions in court challenging these charges.

What happened at the infamous party
Incident details

On June 12, 2022, Siddhanth was invited to perform as a DJ at a party at I Bar in Bengaluru's Park Hotel.

During the event, Halasuru Police allegedly found 5 gm of ganja and 4.86 gm of MDMA in a dustbin at the venue.

All partygoers were questioned and taken to Santosh Health Care for medical tests.

While most were released, five people, including Siddhanth, were arrested for allegedly testing positive for narcotic substances, a claim he denied.

Court's verdict on the case
Legal proceedings

On July 9, Justice M Nagaprasanna allowed the petitions and quashed the case.

The court referred to an earlier High Court judgment stating that a report from a private laboratory becomes a private document under Section 75 of the Indian Evidence Act.

It further noted such reports are "always doubtful" and that "therefore, lurking suspicion percolates into every report."

Accused cite previous Karnataka HC ruling
Defense strategy

Advocates Suraj Sampath and H Malatesh, representing the accused, cited an April 2025 Karnataka High Court judgment where 10 accused under the NDPS Act were freed as their medical tests were conducted at a private laboratory, Santosh Hospital.

They also argued that the sequence of events between 1:45am and 4:45am, when the incident allegedly occurred, was improbable.

The court noted the state government failed to provide any notification or circular recognizing Santosh Hospital as a government-authorized testing laboratory.