Ganga boat iftar party case: Allahabad high court grants bail to 8 accuse

NEW DELHI: The Allahabad high court has granted bail to eight accused in the Varanasi "Ganga Boat Iftar" case, where several men were arrested over allegations of holding an iftar gathering on a boat on the Ganga, consuming non-vegetarian food, specifically chicken biryani and dumping the waste into the river, as per a report by LiveLaw.The case had triggered sharp reactions after videos of the alleged gathering surfaced on social media in March. A complaint was lodged by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha district president Rajat Jaiswal, alleging that the group had hurt Hindu religious sentiments and polluted the holy river.Following the FIR, police arrested 14 men on March 17 and invoked several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including charges related to promoting enmity, defiling a place of worship, public nuisance, extortion, and pollution-related offences under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.Earlier, courts in Varanasi had denied bail to the accused on two occasions — first by the CJM Court, and then by the sessions court on April 1 — observing that the allegations were serious and that the incident appeared prima facie capable of disturbing communal harmony.The Sessions Court further remarked that sharing videos of the alleged act on social media increased the gravity of the offence.During hearings before the high court, counsel for the accused argued that the men had been falsely implicated and that the case had been exaggerated due to communal sensitivities. The defence also contended that the allegations did not justify their prolonged incarceration.The controversy had sparked wider public debate over selective policing, environmental concerns, and religious sensitivities surrounding activities on the Ganga. Social media discussions questioned whether similar acts involving pollution of the river by others received comparable legal scrutiny.