‘No law prohibits eating chicken over Ganga river’: SC judge flags delayed bail
Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan criticized the criminalization of mundane activities and the systemic delays in granting bail to citizens involved in dissent. He specifically cited the arrest of individuals for eating chicken biryani as an example of the shrinking space for democratic expression in India.
Why it matters
The judge's comments reflect growing judicial concern regarding the misuse of criminal law to suppress civil liberties and peaceful protest in India.
NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Saturday questioned the criminalisation of ordinary activities while highlighting delays in granting relief to citizens facing criminal action for protest or dissent, saying there is "no law prohibiting consumption of chicken over the Ganga river."Speaking at the Justice GP Singh 4th Memorial Lecture at the National Law Institute University (NLIU) in Bhopal, Justice Bhuyan cited the arrest of 14 Muslim men who were accused of consuming chicken biryani while breaking their Ramzan fast on a boat in the Ganga as an example of what he described as the criminalisation of normal activities."Take for example the case of a group of youngsters breaking their fast over the river Ganga by consuming chicken biryani. I am sure consuming chicken biryani is not an offence. It can't be an offence. There is no law prohibiting consumption of chicken over the Ganga river.
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