Immature Age & Understanding Misused By Older Co-Accused: Mumbai Court Grants Bail To Three In Bulli Bai App Case

Metropolitan Magistrate Komalsing Rajput, in order granting bail to the three accused last week, also asked the parents or caretakers of the accused who were granted bail to make them avail facilities to undergo counselling for norms of social behavior, including behavior on social media.

The three accused, Vishal Kumar Jha, Shweta Singh and Mayank Rawat, were granted bail for Rs 25,000 each along with a personal bond and surety bond. They have been directed to furnish detailed addresses of themselves, their parents and sureties and relevant proofs, along with all their mobile numbers.

The court rejected bail applications of two other accused Omkareshwar Thakur and Neeraj Singh, and the third accused Neeraj Bishnoi has been asked to file a fresh application as his current application was signed neither by him nor his advocate. All of them had filed the applications after the charge sheet was filed, pleading that they had not committed any serious offence.

The order states based on the case details, it can be seen that Bishnoi, Thakur and Neeraj Singh were associated with the creation of the application and uploading and dissemination of information contained in it. And that the other three, Jha, Rawat and Shweta Singh, followed the three accused and did ancillary activities. The court observed that Jha, Rawat and Shweta Singh also followed the instructions of the other accused and tried to hide their identity.

On Jha, Rawat and Shweta Singh, the court also observed that they are students, of very tender age, one of them is a girl and orphan having nobody to take care. And that they are having ensuing exams, and if they are allowed to remain in jail it will adversely affect their future prospects and upbringing.

The court also added that the record of the investigation reflected that even if the trial commenced within a short span of time, its immediate conclusion was not possible "as the evidence of technical nature, which is spread across the country which is going to come on record." The court said the trial will "take substantial time."

On Bishnoi, Thakur and Neeraj Singh, the court also observed that the allegations were serious, adding that the record also reflected that they had deliberately created the app and that their intentions appeared malafide. "It can be said that they uploaded and disseminated the information pertaining to women of particular religion with intention to create hatred," the court observed.

The order observes, based on the investigation carried out by the cyber cell of the Mumbai police, that images of 100 women from a particular community were uploaded along with other data on the app, showing them to be commodities for auction.

The Mumbai police had registered a case following complaints made by several women. Police also claimed the accused arrested in this case were active in the 'Sulli Deals' app, which came to light in July 2021, where something similar had happened.