Bulli Bai hate app case: Sessions court rejects bail application of 19-year-old accused Vishal Jha

A sessions court on Monday rejected the bail application of 19-year-old Vishal Jha, an accused in the Bulli Bai hate app case.

The case relates to Muslim women being auctioned on the app that was hosted on Github platform. The photos of the women had been taken from their social media accounts and they were ‘auctioned’.

In January, Jha was denied bail by a Bandra magistrate court along with two of his co-accused. Thereafter, the engineering student had immediately approached the sessions court for relief.

The Bandra magistrate, while denying relief to Jha and two co-accused in January, had said that the larger interest of society is at stake. It had also said that the record shows their active involvement in propagating the information relating to women in the app. The order had stated they are found to have committed serious acts defaming womanhood.

Jha had claimed bail before the magistrate stating that he is a student of tender age and is only alleged to have promoted the app on social media handles. His advocate had argued that Jha was not the creator of the app. The court had however said in its common order of all three accused that their involvement in the offence is not of serious dispute and the disputed fact is only with regard to the exact role played by them. It had also added that the record showed their connection with the creator of the app.