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The court made the observation while granting bail to five of the 14 Muslim men accused of organising an Iftar gathering on a boat in the Ganga river.
Allahabad High Court (File pic)
The Allahabad High Court has observed that throwing non-vegetarian food waste into the Ganga could hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community.
Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla made the observation on May 15 while granting bail to five of the 14 Muslim men accused of hurting religious sentiments by organising an Iftar gathering on a boat in the Ganga river in March.
The court agreed with a submission regarding the significance of the river Ganges not only to the Hindu Community but also to the country at large, saying that disruption of religious harmony by the acts of a few may lead to a larger incident.
“The present case involves members of the Muslim community having a Roza Iftar party, and 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 said.
However, the court said the accused and their families have expressed regret for the “pain that had been caused to society at large”, adding that their expression of remorse could be considered for granting bail.
What Was The Case About?
According to an FIR lodged by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Varanasi unit president Rajat Jaiswal accused 14 men of hurting Hindu sentiments by consuming chicken biryani in a boat over Ganga and discarding the remains in the river.
The accused were initially charged for defiling a place of worship, promoting enmity, public nuisance and more under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Police later added more serious charges, including those of extortion under threat of death, after the owners of the boat alleged that the accused men took the boat from them forcibly.
However, the court noted that accused showed genuine remorse for the actions, while expressing doubt over an allegation of the boat owner that it was forcibly taken by the accused.
“It would be sufficient to note here that before registration of the case, the said boatman had not come forward to lodge any report or make any complaint regarding the extortion meted out to him. In the prima facie opinion of the Court, the delay by boatman Anil Sahni in coming forward with the allegations of extortion creates a suspicion on his story,” Justice Shukla said.
Prayagraj, India, India
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