Allahabad HC grants bail to all 14 accused in Varanasi Ganga Iftar party case

The court noted the accused had no criminal record, were jailed since March 17 and had expressed regret while assuring such acts would not recur.

ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT PIC115106.JPG Center-Center-Delhi

The Allahabad High Court on Monday granted bail to the remaining six accused arrested for allegedly organising an Iftar party on a boat in the middle of the Ganga river in Varanasi and consuming non-vegetarian food there.

With the latest order, all 14 accused in the case have now secured bail. Earlier, on May 15, the court had granted bail to eight other accused.

The order was passed by Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla, who observed that since eight co-accused in the same case had already been granted bail, the remaining accused were also entitled to similar relief.

“The present case involves members of the Muslim community having a Roza Iftar party, during which, while partaking of food, non-vegetarian food is said to have been consumed by them, who are then alleged to have thrown the remains into the River Ganga. This fact in the dispassionate opinion of the Court could rightly be said to hurt religious sentiments of the Hindu community,” the court observed.

However, the court said the issue before it was whether the accused should remain in custody during investigation and trial.

The court noted the submission of the Additional Advocate General that the video of the gathering was allegedly uploaded through the Instagram account of one of the accused, Mohd Tahseem, and was suspected to be part of a larger conspiracy aimed at creating communal disharmony.

At the same time, the court held that the ongoing investigation would not be affected if the accused were released on bail.

“The investigation can continue without further detention of the applicants in prison,” the court said.

The court also took note of the fact that the accused had been in jail since March 17, 2026, had no criminal antecedents and had expressed regret over the incident with an undertaking not to repeat such acts in future.

Accordingly, the court ordered their release on personal bonds and two sureties each.

During the hearing, Additional Advocate General Anoop Trivedi opposed the bail plea and argued that the accused had desecrated the Ganga and attempted to disturb communal harmony by uploading the video online.

He further submitted that the investigation was underway to ascertain who funded the Iftar party and facilitated circulation of the video.

An FIR in the case was lodged on March 16 by BJP Yuva Morcha leader Rajat Jaiswal at Kotwali police station in Varanasi.

The accused were booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including charges related to defiling a place of worship, outraging religious feelings and extortion.

Earlier, a sessions court in Varanasi had denied bail to all the accused arrested in the case.