Ganga Iftar | Allahabad HC Grants Bail As Accused Apologise To Hindu Community, Vow Lifelong Respect For 'Maa Ganga'
Sparsh Upadhyay
21 May 2026 7:47 PM IST
The Allahabad High Court on Monday granted bail to 3 Muslim men accused of organizing an Iftar party, consuming non-vegetarian food on a boat in the river Ganga (in Varanasi) and throwing leftover waste into the river.
A bench of Justice Rajiv Lochan noted that the accused demonstrated "genuine remorse" by submitting an unconditional apology to the Court. The same bench had earlier granted relief to 5 other co-accused via a separate order.
Relying on their supplementary affidavit, the Court noted that the applicants sought forgiveness from the Hindu community with 'folded hands' and gave a solemn assurance that they would respect 'Maa Ganga' from the bottom of their hearts for their entire lives.
"The averments made in the aforesaid paragraph as well as the submissions of the learned counsel for the applicants show a genuine remorse for the action attributed to the applicants...The note of apology that appears in the supplementary affidavit and the submissions of the Learned Counsels, in the opinion of the Court, appear to be heartfelt," the single judge remarked while granting them the relief.
The bench also took into account the facts and circumstances of the case, the lack of criminal antecedents of the applicants, and the period of detention already undergone by them.
[Ganga Boat Iftar Row]"With folded hands, we seek forgiveness from the entire Hindu community... will respect Mother Ganga for our entire lives" - Three Muslim men accused of desecrating 'Ganga' tender an unconditional apology. #AllahabadHighCourt grants them bail. pic.twitter.com/hvHETbeqCe— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 21, 2026
For context, the accused moved the High Court after the Sessions Court in Varanasi denied them relief on April 1. Earlier, their bail pleas were rejected by the CJM Court also.
They were arrested on March 17 by the Varanasi Police acting on a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha district president Rajat Jaiswal.
They were then 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], 308 [Extortion] 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.
The informant further claimed that this act was deliberately carried out to promote a "jihadi mentality", which deeply hurt the sentiments of Sanatan followers and caused widespread public outrage.
The single judge, however, found the extortion allegations against the accused to be 'suspicious'.
"The present case involves members of the Muslim community having a Roza Iftar party, and during the said Iftar party, while partaking of food, non-vegetarian food is said to have been consumed by the members of the Muslim community, who are then alleged to have thrown the remains into the River Ganges. This fact in the dispassionate opinion of the Court could rightly be said to hurt religious sentiments of the Hindu community," the bench had observed.
With the present order, all 14 Muslim men implicated in the Ganga Iftar case have now secured bail from the High Court through various orders.
While Justice Shukla granted relief to 3 accused based on their specific apology to the Hindu community regarding 'Maa Ganga', he simultaneously allowed the bail pleas of 3 other co-accused on the same day (May 18) via a separate order.
In that order, the Court took note of a distinct apology where the applicants stated that they "equally pay regards and respect to the people of other religions" and "cannot think, even in a dream, to hurt the communal feeling of the people of other societies".
Earlier, on May 15, Justice Shukla had granted bail to 5 other co-accused in the matter. Meanwhile, on the same day, Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha had granted similar relief to the remaining 3 individuals.
Case title - Danish Saifi vs State of UP and connected petitions 2026 LiveLaw (AB) 286
Case Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (AB) 286
