New Delhi: The Allahabad high court, on May 15, granted bail to eight Muslim men from Varanasi, who were arrested earlier in March, for allegedly consuming non-veg food during Iftar while riding a boat on the river Ganges in Varanasi. Fourteen Muslim men were arrested on March 18 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”. In two separate judgments, first reported by the Indian Express, bail was granted to five persons by a single judge bench of Justice Rajiv Lochan Shukla. Another bench presided over by Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha granted bail to three persons. The bail order issued by Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha, a copy of which was seen by The Wire states: “The applicants have been languishing in jail since 17 March 2026 and they have undertaken to file affidavit before the learned Court concerned and the concerned police station that they will not indulge in/ repeat similar activities in future.” The applicants here refer to Mohd Sameer, Mohd Ahmad Raza and Mohd Faizan who have been asked to furnish a bond of Rs 50,000 each along with two sureties (surety refers to third party or guarantor who has assured the court about regular appearance of an accused during the trial) as part of the bail bond procedure.“As per first information report, 14 named accused persons are said to have celebrated iftar party while sitting on a boat in the river Ganga and they are also said to have thrown the waste materials in river Ganga, including bones of chicken and the applicants have undertaken that they will not do the above act in future”, the bail order further stated.With respect to the argument made in court by the defence lawyer representing the accused Muslim men, the bail order mentions accepting the submission that “if the religious sentiments of any person or group of persons are hurt, then the applicants apologise for the same.” The fact that those arrested did not have any criminal history was also taken into account by the high court while granting bail. Justice Sinha has been quoted as saying in the bail order, “Upon considering the totality of facts, nature and the evidence reflected from record and without expressing any opinion on merits of the case, I find it to be a fit case for bail.”‘The change will show, else we’ll resort to taking stricter action’“The order given by the high court is a good one. Those 14 Muslim youths will learn a lesson now, and a good message has gone to the society as well that the wrongs they [Muslim men] committed and the kind of feelings they have towards Hindus and the Sanatan (referring to Hindu religion), there will now be a fear of the administration”, BJYM district president Jaiswal, the complainant in the case, told The Wire.“Parivartan dikhega (The change will show), else we’ll resort to taking stricter action”, Jaiswal further added.In an FIR, dated March 16, 2026 and filed at Varanasi’s Kotwali police station on the basis of a complaint by Jaiswal, it had been alleged that “committing the act of organising an iftar party in the lap of river Ganga and eating chicken biryani followed by throwing its remains in Maa (Mother) Ganga is really unfortunate.”“Through this act those young men belonging to the Muslim community are deliberately pushing forth a jihadi (Islamic fundamentalist) mindset”, Jaiswal’s complaint to the police had then claimed. The said FIR against “unknown persons” was filed under Sections 298 (intentional defiling any place of worship), 299 (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feeling), 196(1)(b) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc.), 270 (public nuisance), 279 (fouling water of any public reservoir) and 223(b) (disobedience to orders promulgated by public servants) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 along with Section 24 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Speaking to The Wire, Jaiswal, who had earlier alleged that following the registration of FIR, he was getting death threats from a particular community, claimed, “As per reports by the LIU (Local Intelligence Unit) there is still a threat. I had also received a call which upon investigation by an ATS (Anti Terror Squad) official was found out to be from Pakistan.”Based on this threat perception, according to Jaiswal, in addition to the FIR registered in connection with Muslim men reportedly consuming non-veg food, two more FIRs have been filed by the UP Police at Varanasi’s Sigra and Cantt police station respectively.Even as Jaiswal’s first complaint had alleged that “leftover remains of chicken biryani were thrown in Ganga, a spot visited by lakhs of domestic as well as foreign tourists with water being used to perform aachman (spiritual act of worshipping the river by taking a sip), thus hurting the sentiments of the Sanatan followers”, an investigation by Alt News had reviewed viral videos and found no evidence of waste being thrown in water.When asked about the evidence related to the alleged consumption of meat and its disposal thereafter, Jaiswal told The Wire, “Police have considered two pieces of evidence as the basis [of allegations]. Firstly, these people had forcefully taken control of the boat from a local boatman and then even displayed the flag of Palestine in front of the Bindu Madhav temple, which they [referring to accused Muslim men] refer to as masjid while we consider it as an abode of Lord Vishnu. Then they also ate biryani and as per the local boatman’s version, remains were thrown in the river and hands were also washed.”According to the Alt News report, these assertions were also vague since the distance between Bindu Madhav temple and the Alamgir Masjid was 500 metres with a second mosque, namely the Dharhara Masjid located between them. Families of the eight Muslim men who have been granted bail as well as their lawyer could not be contacted at the time of writing this report.When contacted, SHO (Station House Officer) at Varanasi’s Kotwali police station, Daya Shankar Singh told The Wire, “Investigation in the case is still ongoing. We will submit the charge sheet in a month or so.”When asked about the nature of evidence collected so far during the course of investigation, apart from the viral videos, Singh refused to comment.“We have enough evidence against them [accused] and are trying to gather more”, he told this reporter. The next hearing in this case is scheduled for May 18.Convener of BJP legal cell writes to PMO seeking ‘special status’ for Varanasi on the lines of Mecca and Vatican“In such cases, since the accused had already spent two months in jail, that formed the basis of granting bail by the honourable high court, said advocate Shashank Shekhar Tripathi, convenor of the BJP Legal Cell in Kashi region, and BJYM leader Jaiswal’s lawyer.When asked about any related evidence in terms of police case diaries, advocate Tripathi said, “We had evidence as far as abduction of the boatmen is concerned. Apart from viral videos, testimonies of eye witnesses form the basis of evidence in this case.” “This was deliberately done at the Pancha Ganga Ghat of Varanasi which is an important religious place for us Hindus”, advocate Tripathi further alleged. Following the incident, on April 13, 2026, advocate Tripathi sent mails marked to the official IDs of Varanasi’s district magistrate, chief minister Yogi Adityanath and the prime minister’s office (PMO) with the subject line: “Regarding development of Varanasi like Vatican, Mecca and Medina & conservation of its religious piousness along with Ganga conservation.” Varanasi happens to be the Lok Sabha constituency of prime minister Narendra Modi.“On the lines of Mecca, Medina and Vatican city, it’s important to initiate similar development work for Varanasi where a strict religious code is enforced and a special security force (dharmic police)is on duty”, stated the mail, screenshots of which were seen by The Wire. While the additional district magistrate (ADM) City had acknowledged the mail, there was, however, no response from the PMO. When asked if he meant restricting movement of Muslims in Varanasi, advocate Tripathi said, “Our religious places are not tourist spots so just like Vatican or Mecca and Medina or for instance dress code as is enforced in some temples in the south, a certain code needs to be followed so that these incidents don’t happen again.