Courts rejects bail, calls offence serious

Hyderabad: A Varanasi court on Monday, March 23, refused bail for the 14 Muslim men who allegedly hosted an iftar party during Ramzan on a boat on the Ganga River.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Amit Kumar Yadav observed that the offence was non-bailable.

“The crimes committed by the accused were of a serious nature and non-bailable. Therefore, keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, there are no sufficient grounds to grant bail to the accused,” the order stated.

The Court’s observation follows after the Varanasi police added a new offence, Section 308(5) BNS (extortion under threat of death or grievous hurt), in the first information report (FIR), which is a non-bailable offence.

On March 15, videos shared on social media platforms showing Muslim men breaking their Ramadan fast with chicken and allegedly throwing leftovers into the river went massively viral, prompting legal action.

Police registered a case against Azad Ali, Aamir Kaiki, Danish Saifi, Mohammed Ahmad, Nehal Afridi, Mahfooz Alam, Mohammed Anas, Mohammed Awwal, Mohammed Tahseem, Mohammed Ahmad alias Raja, Mohammed Noor Ismail, Mohammed Tausif Ahmad, Mohd Faizan and Mohammed Sameer.

The accused were remanded to 14 days of judicial custody on March 19.

Initially, the FIR was registered under Sections 298 (defiling a place of worship), 299 (malicious act with intent to outrage religious feelings), 196(1)(B) (promoting enmity), 270 (public nuisance), 279 (fouling water of a public spring or water reservoir), and 223(B) (disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with section 24 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. All are largely bailable.

However, things turned when the boat owners alleged that the accused men took their boat forcibly, leading to the addition of Section 308(5), a serious offence.