The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to a group of men who were jailed for consuming non-vegetarian food during an iftar party on a boat on the Ganga river in Varanasi in March. A group of 14 men have been jailed over allegations of throwing non-vegetarian food scraps into the river and “hurting religious sentiments”.
On Friday, in two separate orders, the Allahabad High Court granted bail to eight of the 14 men accused in the case. Justice Rajeev Lochan Shukla granted bail to 5 of the accused, while Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha granted bail to 3.
What the court said in the bail order
“Disruption of religious harmony through the actions of a few may lead to a larger incident,” Justice Shukla said in his judgement.
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“Social media platforms, which spread information at lightning speed to every corner of the world, have not only become a source of entertainment and information exchange, but have also emerged as major hubs of misinformation. This court is mindful of the role that social media plays in disrupting the equal flow of life, if misused. However, the court, while considering the bail application of a person accused of committing a crime, must adhere to the facts of the case, keeping in mind the larger social issues.”
The order added that the defendants and their families regretted “the pain caused to the community as a whole.”
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Press Ti reported that Judge Shukla set May 18 to hear arguments from some of the other accused in the case.
Earlier, the Supreme Court granted one week’s time to the state government’s counsel to file a counter affidavit. In the bail application, the accused’s lawyer claimed that his clients were wrongly implicated in the case and were not named in the FIR.
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Ganga breakfast class
An FIR was lodged against the group of men on March 16 based on a complaint filed by Rajat Jaiswal, president of the Varanasi branch of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He claimed that the incident hurt Hindu sentiments.
The complainant alleged that the accused broke their Ramadan fast on a boat on the Ganges on March 15, ate meat, and threw leftover waste into the “holy” river.
They have been booked under various legal provisions, including Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections relating to desecration of place of worship, insulting religious sentiments, etc.
On April 1, a sessions court in Varanasi refused to release the accused on bail, saying they appeared to intend to disturb social harmony.
