Bulli Bai case: App resulted in defamation, hurting feelings of a community, says court

Mumbai: A sessions court that had rejected the bail application of an accused in hate app Bulli bai case where Muslim women were auctioned virtually early this year, has said in its detailed order that app resulted in causing defamation, hurting the feelings of a particular community and the dignity and modesty of women.

The 21-year-old engineering student Vishal Jha had claimed bail stating that he was falsely implicated in the case. His advocates Arti Deshmukh and Shivam Deshmukh had told the court that he was a mere follower of the app through a Twitter handle he was using and was not a creator of it.

Prosecutor Kalpana Hire had opposed relief to the youth and argued that Jha had created various fake accounts on social media on which a probe is needed. She also pointed out that he was a member of a group Trad Mahasabha and High IQ Bruh and that the link of the app being shared on the latter.

Additional Sessions Judge Sanjashree Gharat said in the order that from the prosecution’s response to the bail plea, it appears that accused Neeraj Bishnoi and other accused including Jha are members of a group chat Trad Mahasabha and as a result of the chat on this group, the app was created by Bishnoi.

“The accused Neeraj Bishnoi with the accused and other co-accused has developed the scandalous Bulli Bai app. The said app is used for virtual sale and purchase of Muslim women,” it stated. The court observed that it was tried to portray that the app was created by a particular community. “It resulted in causing defamation, hurting the feelings of a particular community and the dignity and modesty of women,” it said. At the stage, Jha’s role cannot be bifurcated, it said. It also noted that as per the prosecution’s response, the youth had created fake identity on Twitter and had joined the group chats and the probe being at an initial stage, detailed investigation is required.

Published on: Wednesday, March 02, 2022, 08:34 PM IST