Varanasi court denies bail to 14 accused in Ganga boat Iftar party case

A court in Varanasi on Monday rejected the bail pleas of 14 men arrested for allegedly organising an Iftar gathering on a boat in the Ganga river, an incident that sparked controversy after a video of the event circulated widely on social media.

The bail applications were rejected by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Amit Kumar Yadav , who observed that the offences alleged against the accused were serious and non-bailable , and therefore there were insufficient grounds to grant relief at this stage.

According to the prosecution, the accused allegedly held an Iftar party on a boat in the Ganga river , where they consumed chicken biryani and allegedly threw food leftovers, including bones, into the water. Authorities said the act amounted to hurting religious sentiments , public nuisance , and water pollution , given the river’s sacred status for Hindus.

The case was registered after a video of the gathering went viral online and a complaint was filed by Rajat Jaiswal , the city unit chief of the BJP Yuva Morcha , adding a limited political dimension to the controversy in local discourse.

Police said the accused were booked under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) , including sections related to defiling a place of worship, outraging religious feelings, promoting enmity between groups, public nuisance, and fouling water sources. Charges under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 were also invoked.

During the investigation, police also added charges related to the forcible seizure of the boat after the boatman alleged that he had been threatened and compelled to take the group onto the river. Investigators said they relied on the boatman’s statement and eyewitness accounts while submitting a report to the court.

The 14 accused had earlier been sent to judicial custody by the court on March 19 as the investigation continued.

The defence argued during the bail hearing that the accused were law-abiding citizens and had been falsely implicated, but the prosecution maintained that the charges were grave and that granting bail at this stage could affect the investigation.