Bulli Bai App Case: Delhi court dismisses bail plea of app creator Neeraj Bishnoi

New Delhi: A Delhi Court on Friday refused to grant bail to 21-year-old engineering student and 'Bulli Bai' app creator Neeraj Bishnoi observing that the act is an "affront to the dignity of the women of a particular community and communal harmony of the society".

Bishnoi was arrested by the Delhi Police from Assam for creating a platform that made the details of several Muslim women public, allowing users to participate in their 'auction'.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Patiala House Courts, Pankaj Sharma, denied the bail application observing that the accused created the app where women journalists and celebrities of a particular community who are famous on social media are targeted and they are projected in a bad light with an objective to insult and humiliate them.

Last week, Bishnoi, who was arrested by the IFSO (Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit) of the Special Cell of Delhi Police had been sent to seven days' custody. He was a student of second-year B.Tech, computer science, at Vellore Institute of Technology, Bhopal.

According to police, Bishnoi had, in October, had created a list of women whom he wanted to defame online on his digital devices, a laptop, and cell phones.

He was tracing women activists all over social media and downloading their photos.

On January 1, this app, which was performing on Github's space, posted photos of a number of women of a particular religion. These included journalists, social workers, students, and famous personalities.

It happened six months after the controversy of Sulli Deals.

Vishal Kumar Jha, the engineering student, was one of the followers of 'Bulli Bai', which led the police to him.

Meanwhile, a local court in Mumbai on Friday remanded Shweta Singh and Mayank Rawat, arrested in the 'Bulli Bai' app case, to 14-day judicial custody, while the former alleged she was slapped during interrogation.

Both accused were arrested from Uttrakhand by the Mumbai police earlier this month in connection with the 'Bulli Bai' app which targeted Muslim women.

Singh, 18, and Rawat 21, also filed their bail applications soon after the magistrate's court in suburban Bandra remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days.

Metropolitan Magistrate Komalsing Rajput sent them to jail after being informed that Rawat had tested positive for coronavirus.

On Friday, the court was informed by the prosecution that Jha and Rawat were being treated at a COVID-19 care centre in the Kalina area of Mumbai, Jha's counsel Shivam Deshmukh said.

The court scheduled the hearing on the bail applications filed by all the three accused on January 17 and directed the prosecution to file its response to their pleas by then.

During Friday's hearing, Singh's advocate alleged before the court that she was slapped during interrogation.

The magistrate's court then asked the police to inquire into the alleged incident.

Hosting platform Github provided space to 'Sulli Deals', and the 'Bulli Bai' too was created on it. Later, after the controversy erupted, Github removed the user 'Bulli Bai' from its hosting platform.

But by then, it had sparked a nationwide controversy. The app was also being promoted by a Twitter handle with the name @bullibai, with the display picture of a Khalistani supporter.