The Allahabad high court has directed the state government to file its reply (counter affidavit) regarding a case of non-vegetarian Iftar party held on a boat in the Ganga in Varanasi last month.
Hearing the bail applications of three accused—Danish Saifi, Noor Islam and Amir Kaifi—Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha in an order dated April 17 gave the directive and fixed April 24 as the next date of hearing in the case.
During the course of hearing, Mohd Waseem, the counsel for the accused, argued that these youths have been falsely implicated in this case. However, the additional government advocate Uma Shanker Mishra opposed the bail application and sought time to file a counter affidavit.
An FIR was lodged at the Kotwali police station in Varanasi on March 16 by BJP Yuva Morcha president Rajat Jaiswal against the incident, which he claimed hurt the sentiments of a particular community.
The men, who broke their Ramzan fast on a boat over the Ganga on March 15, were accused by Jaiswal of eating meat and throwing the waste into the river.
They were then arrested under relevant Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections pertaining to defiling a place of worship, outraging religious feelings and later extortion.
