The Allahabad High Court has observed that throwing non-vegetarian food waste into the river Ganga could hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community while granting bail to several Muslim men accused in an Iftar gathering case in Varanasi, as reported in Bar and Bench.
Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla made the observation on 15 May 2026 while granting bail to five of the 14 Muslim men booked for allegedly organising a Roza Iftar gathering on a boat in the Ganga in March.
“The present case involves members of the Muslim community having a Roza Iftar party, and during the said Iftar party, while partaking of food, non-vegetarian food is said to have been consumed by the members of the Muslim community, who are then alleged to have thrown the remains into the River Ganges. This fact in the dispassionate opinion of the Court could rightly be said to hurt religious sentiments of the Hindu community,” the Court said.
At the same time, the Court noted that the accused and their families had expressed regret over the incident and said their remorse could be considered while deciding the bail applications.
It observed that not only the accused, but also their families, had expressed sorrow for the “pain that had been caused to the society at large.”
“This Court further understands that while facing prosecution in a criminal case, specific acceptance of the crime cannot be made by a person swearing an affidavit on behalf of the person, who has been incarcerated and while considering grant of bail an admission to the crime alleged is not warranted. However, the affidavits that have been filed in support of the bail application before the Court as well as the submissions of the Learned counsel for the applicants show genuine remorse for the actions attributed to the applicants,” the Court stated.
Court Questions Boatman’s Extortion Allegation
The High Court also noted that the offences originally invoked against the accused did not carry punishment exceeding seven years.
While examining the prosecution case, the Court expressed doubt over allegations made by the boatman that the accused had forcibly taken control of his boat.
“It would be sufficient to note here that before registration of the case, the said boatman had not come forward to lodge any report or make any complaint regarding the extortion meted out to him. In the prima facie opinion of the Court, the delay by boatman Anil Sahni in coming forward with the allegations of extortion creates a suspicion on his story,” the Court observed.
Taking note of the fact that the accused had remained in custody since March 17 and had shown remorse, Justice Shukla granted bail to five of the 14 accused men.
Separate Bail Order For Three More Accused
On the same day, Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha granted bail to three additional accused persons through a separate order.
“The applicants have been languishing in jail since 17.03.2026 and they have undertaken to file affidavit before the learned Court concerned and the concerned police station that they will not indulge in/repeat similar activities in future,” Justice Sinha said in the order.
FIR Filed Over Chicken Biryani Allegation
The case originated from a First Information Report filed on the complaint of Rajat Jaiswal, city unit president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in Varanasi.
According to the FIR, the accused men consumed chicken biryani during the Iftar gathering and allegedly threw the food remains into the Ganga, thereby hurting religious sentiments.
Initially, police registered offences under Sections 298, 299, 196(1)(B), 270, 279 and 223(B) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 24 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
The invoked BNS provisions related to defiling a place of worship, deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings, promoting enmity, public nuisance, fouling public water sources and disobedience of lawful public orders.
Police later added more serious offences, including Section 308(5) BNS dealing with extortion under threat of death or grievous hurt, after boat owners alleged that the accused had forcibly taken the boat.
The accused were also booked under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, which concerns publication or transmission of allegedly obscene electronic material.
Advocate Raghuvansh Misra appeared for the accused persons, while Additional Advocate General Anoop Trivedi, along with advocates Shashank Tripathi and Nitesh Srivastava, represented the State government.
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