Ganga boat iftar: Allahabad High Court grants bail to 6 more accused

The Allahabad High Court on Monday granted bail to six Muslim men booked for hosting an Iftar (fast-breaking evening meal eaten by Muslims during the Ramadan month) on a boat on river Ganga in March.

With the latest bail orders, all 14 accused booked by UP police in March have now secured bail in the case.

Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla today granted relief to Mohd Avval, Mohd Ahmad, Mahfooz Alam, Amir Kaifi, Noor Islam and Danish Saifi.

Last week, the High Court had granted bail to Azad Ali, Nehal Afridi, Mohd Anas, Mohd Tahseem, Mohd Noor Ismail, Mohd Tausif Ahmad, Mohd Faizan, and Mohd Sameer.

In one of the bail orders, the Court observed that throwing non-vegetarian food waste into the Ganga could hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community

The case against the 14 accused was registered after videos of them breaking their fast in a boat on the river went viral on social media.

A first information report (FIR) was registered based on a complaint filed by Rajat Jaiswal, Varanasi city unit president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), accusing the men of hurting religious sentiments. The FIR stated that the men consumed chicken biryani and discarded its remains in the river.

The men were initially booked under Sections 298 (defiling a place of worship), 299 (malicious act with intent to outrage religious feelings), 196(1)(B) (promoting enmity), 270 (public nuisance), 279 (fouling water of a public spring or water reservoir), and 223(B) (disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with section 24 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.

The police later added charged more serious charges including under Section 308(5) BNS (extortion under threat of death or grievous hurt).

This charge was added after the owners of the boat alleged that the accused men took the boat from them forcibly.

They were also charged under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act which penalises publishing or transmitting material in electronic form which is lascivious, appeals to prurient interests or depraves/corrupts viewers.