LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court on Friday granted bail to eight persons accused of organising an Iftar party on a boat in the middle of the Ganga river in Varanasi, consuming non-vegetarian food and allegedly throwing leftover waste into the river.
In separate orders issued on the same day, Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla granted bail to five accused, while Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha granted bail to the remaining three.
Those granted bail are Mohammad Azad Ali, Mohammad Tahseem, Nihal Afridi, Mohammad Tauseef, Mohammad Anas, Mohammad Sameer, Mohammad Ahmed Raza and Mohammad Faizan.
Eight of the 14 accused in the case have now been granted bail.
The accused approached the High Court after a Sessions Court in Varanasi rejected their bail pleas on April 1, 2026. Their bail applications had earlier been rejected by the Chief Judicial Magistrate court.
They were arrested on March 17 by Varanasi Police following a complaint filed by Rajat Jaiswal, district president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.
The accused were booked under Sections 196(1)(b), 270, 279, 298, 299, 308 and 223(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 24 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
According to the complaint, the accused consumed chicken biryani during Iftar while sitting on a boat in the Ganga river and allegedly threw leftover food into the water.
The complaint stated that the act was "extremely unfortunate and condemnable". The informant also alleged that it was deliberately done to promote a "jihadi mentality" and had hurt the sentiments of Sanatan followers.