Rajya Lakshmi, Ravi Teja's mother, has come to her son's defense in the wake of reports that he is into drugs.

"It's saddening that Ravi Teja's name has been dragged into this. He has no such bad habits. He doesn't even smoke, nor does he encourage those who do. He is being implicated on purpose," the mother said in a statement.

"He is participating in shooting schedules with the aim of not causing any loss to his producers. He is doing it while being dejected over the death of Bharat," she said.

Talking about her late younger son Bharat, who last month died in a gory road accident, Rajya Lakshmi said, "It's not true that he was in drunk state when he died. He had given up all bad habits a few days earlier. We didn't attend his last rites as per our family tradition. Bharat got selected for Bigg Boss show and had been doing preparations for the same. I used to keep an eye on him day in, day out," she said.

It's not proper to judge Ravi Teja through Bharat's past, she suggested.