Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has observed that throwing non‑vegetarian food waste into the River Ganga could hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community, while granting bail to eight people accused in the case, PTI reported.
Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla granted bail on May 15 to five accused — Mohammad Azad Ali, Mohammad Tahseem, Nihal Afridi, Mohammad Tauseef Ahmad and Mohammad Anas — saying the applicants and their families have expressed regret. “The applicants are apologetic for their actions and even their families also regret the pain that had been caused to the society at large,” the court said.
“Taking note of the entire facts and circumstances of the case, the lack of criminal antecedents of the applicants, the period of detention already undergone and also the apology expressed, as recorded above, prima facie a case for bail is made out,” the court added.
Earlier on the same day, Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha granted bail to three others — Mohammad Sameer, Mohammad Ahmad Raza and Mohammad Faizan.
Incident Occurred During Iftar
According to the high court order, the incident involved members of the Muslim community who were holding an iftar party. “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 court observed.
The five applicants had been in custody since March 17, 2026. They told the court they regret the act and have undertaken not to repeat it.
Complaint & Charges
The FIR was filed on March 16 following a complaint by Rajat Jaiswal, president of the Varanasi chapter of the BJP Yuva Morcha, who said the incident hurt Hindu sentiments. The complaint says the accused broke their Ramzan fast on a boat in the Ganga on March 15, ate meat and threw the leftovers into the holy river.
They were booked under different provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including sections dealing with defiling a place of worship and outraging religious feelings.
A sessions court in Varanasi had earlier, on April 1, denied bail to the accused, saying they appeared to have intended to disturb social harmony.
