Ganga Iftar Party Row | 'Serious Crime': Varanasi Court Denies Bail To All 14 Accused

A Court in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi today denied bail to all 14 persons 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. The order was passed by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM), Varanasi Amit Kumar Yadav-III. The court noted that the crime is of a serious and non-bailable nature.Read #VaranasiCourt order denying bail to all 14 Muslim men who are facing an FIR for allegedly holding #Iftar party on a boat on the Ganges and thereby hurting sentiments of Hindus.'Crime serious in nature', says Court.#Varanasi#IftarParty #Ganga https://t.co/it53jhDoGk pic.twitter.com/K09WZbvtqF— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) March 23, 2026 The 14 accused, identified as Azad Ali, Aamir Kaifi, Danish Saifi, Mohd. Ahmed, Nehal Afridi, Mahfooz Alam, Mohd. Anas, Mohd. Awwal, Mohd. Tehseem, Mohd. Ahmed alias Raja, Mohd. Noor Ismail, Mohd. Tauseef Ahmed, Mohd. Faizan, and Mohd. Sameer, have been in judicial custody since March 19, 2026. 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. The police later added a charge under Section 308(5) BNS after the owners of the boat alleged that the accused had taken the boat from them forcibly. During the hearing, the counsel for the accused argued that the applicants have no prior criminal history and they were falsely implicated in a conspiracy. It was contended that no mutton or chicken was recovered from the accused. Furthermore, it was argued that the viral video itself does not show any photographic evidence of meat consumption, nor are the boatmen (Mallah) visible in the footage. On the other hand, the Assistant Prosecuting Officer opposed the bail plea. He argued that the offences committed are of a grave nature, carrying a punishment of up to 10 years in prison.Advocate Shashank Shekhar Tripathi appeared for the informant.Click Here To Read/Download Order

Ganga Iftar Party Row | 'Serious Crime': Varanasi Court Denies Bail To All 14 Accused

Sparsh Upadhyay

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