Ganga boat iftar: Varanasi court denies bail to all 14 accused

A Varanasi court on Monday denied bail to fourteen Muslim men, who were booked for hosting an Iftar (fast-breaking evening meal eaten by Muslims during the Ramadan month) on a boat on Ganga.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Amit Kumar Yadav passed the order denying bail to Azad Ali, Aamir Kaiki, Danish Saifi, Mohd. Ahmad, Nehal Afridi, Mahfooz Alam, Mohd. Anas, Mohd. Awwal, Mohd. Tahseem, Mohd. Ahmad alias Raja, Mohd. Noor Ismail, Mohd. Tausif Ahmad, Mohd. Faizan, and Mohd. Sameer.

The Magistrate observed that the offences allegedly committed by them were non-bailable and serious in nature.

"The crimes committed by the accused were of a serious nature and non-bailable. Therefore, keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, there are no sufficient grounds to grant bail to the accused," the order stated. [translated from Hindi]

The controversy arose after videos of the men 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.

On March 19, the Court remanded the 14 accused men to judicial custody for a period of 14 days. They have been lodged at the Varanasi District Jail since then.

They subsequently moved the present plea for bail before the Magistrate Court.

The counsel for the accused argued that they are law abiding citizens and that they have been falsely implicated due to personal enmity. They also submitted that no meat items were recovered from them and that the viral video also do not contain any visuals showing meat consumption.

Opposing the plea, Assistant Prosecutor Deepak Kumar submitted that the charges were grave and punishable with imprisonment up to ten years. Since the investigation is ongoing, the defense arguments cannot be properly assessed at this stage, he argued.

He further informed the Court that another FIR has been registered based on the complainant’s application alleging death threats from persons linked to the accused.

After hearing both sides and examining the case file, the Court concluded that there were no sufficient grounds to justify grant of bail at this stage.