Ganga Iftar case: Allahabad HC grants bail to eight

 

More than two months after the videos of an Iftar gathering on the Ganga sparked outrage and a political storm in Varanasi, the Allahabad High Court on Friday (May 15) granted bail to eight of the 14 Muslim men accused in the case.

 

 

The matter, which drew sharp reactions on social media and led to multiple serious charges being involved, was heard by single benches of Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha and Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla. Bail pleas of the remaining accused are still pending before the Court.

 

The accused include Azad Ali, Aamir Kaiki, Danish Saifi, Mohammed Ahmad, Nehal Afridi, Mahfooz Alam, Mohammed Anas, Mohammed Awwal, Mohammed Tahseem, Mohammed Ahmad alias Raja, Mohammed Noor Ismail, Mohammed Tausif Ahmad, Mohammed Faizan, and Mohammed Sameer. Earlier, a magistrate court denied them bail in February, a decision upheld by the Sessions Court. They subsequently moved the High Court for relief.

 

 

The case came to light after videos of the group breaking their Ramadan fast on a boat in the Ganga went viral on social media. The complaint was filed by Rajat Jaiswal, city unit president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in Varanasi. He alleged that the accused hurt religious sentiments by consuming chicken biryani on the boat and throwing leftovers into the river.

 

Initially, police booked the accused under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including provisions related to defiling a place of worship, outraging religious feelings, promoting enmity, public nuisance, fouling a public water source, and disobeying orders issued by public authorities. Section 24 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, was also invoked.