Six Granted Bail for Iftar-on-Boat Case After Apology to 'Hindu Community'
New Delhi: The Allahabad high court earlier this week granted bail to the remaining six Muslim men accused of organising an iftar party and consuming non-vegetarian food on a boat on the Ganga in Varanasi, noting that they have tendered an apology.
A bench of Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla granted the six men bail, noting that in the same FIR, eight accused have already been granted the relief on May 15.
All 14 accused in the case have now secured bail in the controversial case. The six have been in jail since March 17.
The Muslim men were arrested during the month of Ramzan following a complaint by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) – the youth wing of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – district president, Rajat Jaiswal, who had alleged that the act had “hurt religious sentiments”. Later investigations found that even though Jaiswal’s first complaint had alleged that “leftover remains of chicken biryani were thrown in Ganga", viral videos had found no evidence of waste being thrown in water.
Those who got bail in the May 18 order are Danish Saifi, Noor Islam, Amir Kaifi, Mahfooz Alam, Mohammad Alam and Mohammad Avval.
An excerpt from the affidavit in which the accused have tendered an apology has been included in the bail order. Written originally in Hindi, the quoted portion of the apology reads:
“The applicant sincerely respects Mother Ganga and the Hindu religion from the heart. The applicant is deeply hurt by the incident mentioned in the above case and with folded hands seeks forgiveness from the entire Hindu community, as well as followers of all other religions for whom Mother Ganga is a centre of faith. The applicant assures the Hon’ble Court and all followers of the Hindu faith that he will not participate in any such activities in the future and will lifelong respect Mother Ganga from the heart.”
The court observed that the averments made in the above paragraph as well as the submissions of the counsel for the accused "show a genuine remorse for the action attributed to the applicants."
During the hearing, Additional Advocate General Anoop Trivedi, while opposing the bail plea, said that investigations were underway to ascertain who funded the iftar party and facilitated the circulation of a video of it.
This court noted the period of detention, lack of criminal antecedents of the applicants as well as the apology while granting bail.
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