A court in Varanasi on Monday denied bail to 14 Muslim men arrested for allegedly eating chicken biryani during an iftar gathering on a boat in the Ganga River, local media reported.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Amit Kumar Yadav said the offences alleged against the accused were “of a serious nature and non-bailable”.
“Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, there are no sufficient grounds to grant bail to the accused,” the judge said.
The accused — Azad Ali, Aamir Kaiki, Danish Saifi, Mohd Ahmad, Nehal Afridi, Mahfooz Alam, Mohd Anas, Mohd Awwal, Mohd Tahseem, Mohd Ahmad alias Raja, Mohd Noor Ismail, Mohd Tausif Ahmad, Mohd Faizan and Mohd Sameer — were arrested after a video of the gathering circulated widely on social media on March 16.
They have been booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to defiling a place of worship, outraging religious feelings and promoting enmity between groups.
Police have also invoked charges linked to public nuisance, fouling water in a public reservoir, disobeying orders of a public servant and provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.
Authorities later added extortion charges after the boat owners alleged the men had forcibly taken the vessel.
Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, which deals with publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form, has also been applied, the reports said.