Is Eating Chicken Over Ganga River Allowed? Here's What SC Judge Said Over Arrest Of Muslim Students For Having Iftar Biryani During Varanasi Boat Ride

Varanasi: Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Saturday stated that there is no law that prohibits the consumption of chicken over the Ganga River. He was reacting to the arrest of Muslim students for eating chicken biryani during a boat ride on the river in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, In March.

While speaking at an event in Bhopal's National Law Institute University (NLIU), the judge noted that the 14 arrested youths had to remain in jail for three months for an action that is not even an offence.

“I am sure consuming chicken biryani is not an offence. It can’t be an offence. They were arrested for that very reason, and they had to remain in jail for three months,” he said.

The youths has been arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments after a video showed them purportedly eating chicken biryani during an Iftar party hosted on a boat in the Ganga river. As per reports, people had complained that they were throwing chicken bones into the river.

BJP Yuva Morcha leader Rajat Jaiswal, on whose complaint a case was registered, had said, “The Ganga holds deep and unshakeable faith for the followers of Sanatan Dharma. Thousands of devotees from across the country and the world visit Kashi every day to perform rituals and offer prayers using Ganga water. In such a situation, eating biryani on a boat in the middle of the river and throwing its leftovers into the water is completely inappropriate. This act appears to have been done with the intention of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus.”

The FIR was lodged under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 298 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), Section 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), Section 196(1) B (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place etc), Section 270 (public nuisance), Section 279 (fouling water of public spring or reservoir) and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had spoken against the arrest, questioning, "How are someone's religious sentiments being hurt if someone had food on a boat in river Ganga? Whose religious sentiments are being hurt? Does the sewage dumped in the river Ganga not hurt you?"

The youths had been granted bail after spending three months in jail.

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