Ganga Iftar Party Row | Varanasi Court Remands 14 Accused To Judicial Custody Until April 1
A Court in Varanasi has remanded a group of 14 persons to 14 days' judicial custody in connection with an FIR over allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus by organising an 'Iftar' party on a boat in the middle of the Ganga and throwing bones and food waste into the River.
All the accused will remain in judicial custody until April 1, 2026. The next hearing in this case will be on March 23, 2026, when their bail pleas will be considered.
The iftar party was allegedly held on March 15, during which the 14 accused purportedly consumed chicken biryani on the boat ride and also disposed of the waste food in the river.
They were arrested on March 17 by the Varanasi Police acting on a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha district president Rajat Jaiswal.
The accused have been booked under Sections 196(1)(b) [Promoting enmity], 270 [Public Nuisance], 279 [Fouling water of public spring or reservoir], 298 [Injuring or defiling place of worship], 299 [Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs] and 223(b) BNS along with Section 24 [Prohibition on use of stream or well for disposal of polluting matter] of The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
On Thursday, the Court of ACJM remanded all the accused to judicial custody. The court has also called for the details of the criminal history of all the accused.
Advocate Shashank Shekhar Tripathi appeared for the informant.