Ganga Boat Iftar Row: Allahabad High Court Grants Bail To 8 Men

The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to eight men arrested in connection with the Varanasi “Ganga boat iftar” case, where the men were accused of consuming non-vegetarian food during an iftar gathering on the river and allegedly throwing food waste into the Ganga.

The relief was granted through separate orders passed on Friday by Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla and Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha. While Justice Shukla allowed the bail pleas of five accused, Justice Sinha granted bail to three others.

The accused who secured bail are Mohammad Azad Ali, Mohammad Tahseem, Nihal Afridi, Mohammad Tauseef, Mohammad Anas, Mohammad Sameer, Mohammad Ahmed Raza and Mohammad Faizan. With this, eight out of the 14 persons arrested in the case have now been granted bail by the high court.

The controversy erupted in March after videos of an iftar gathering organised on a boat in the middle of the Ganga river in Varanasi circulated widely on social media. The participants were alleged to have eaten chicken biryani during the gathering and later thrown leftover food into the river.

Following the circulation of the videos, a complaint was lodged by Rajat Jaiswal, Varanasi city unit president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), alleging that the act had hurt religious sentiments attached to the Ganga and amounted to insulting a place considered sacred by Hindus. The complainant also termed the incident “condemnable” and accused the participants of deliberately promoting a “jihadi mentality".

Based on the allegations, police arrested 14 young men and initially booked them under Sections 298, 299 and 196(1)(B) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity on religious grounds. They were also charged under Sections 270, 279 and 223(B) BNS for public nuisance, fouling water and disobeying orders of a public servant, apart from Section 24 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Later, police added Section 308(5) BNS relating to extortion under threat of death or grievous hurt and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act over the alleged circulation of obscene material through the viral video.

The accused remained in jail for nearly two months after a sessions court in Varanasi rejected their bail applications in April, observing that the allegations were serious in nature.

The high court heard the bail applications filed by the accused challenging the rejection of their pleas by the lower court. Reports indicate that the hearing concerning some of the remaining accused is still pending before the court.

The case had drawn considerable public attention in Uttar Pradesh due to the religious sensitivity surrounding the Ganga river and the allegations involving disposal of non-vegetarian food waste into its waters. The incident also triggered intense reactions on social media after clips from the gathering became viral.