Delhi Court Rejects Bail Plea of Bulli Bai App Creator Niraj Bishnoi

Photos of hundreds of Muslim women were uploaded by on an app by the name of 'Bulli Bai', using GitHub.

Niraj Bishnoi, 21, was arrested by the Delhi Police from his residence in Assam's Jorhat on 5 January, and is allegedly the 'main conspirator' of the Bulli Bai app. 

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

Denying bail to Bulli Bai case accused Niraj Bishnoi for a second time, a Delhi court on Sunday, 30 January noted that the “sardonic conduct of targeting women journalists of a particular community on a social platform is not only against the essence of womanhood but also an act designed to disturb the communal harmony.”

On 1 January, photos of several Muslim women were uploaded on an app by the name 'Bulli Bai' on GitHub. Bishnoi, 21, allegedly the "main conspirator" of the Bulli Bai app, was arrested from his house in Assam’s Jorhat by the Delhi Police on 5 January.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana noted in his order on Sunday:

"The sardonic conduct of the applicant/accused in targeting women journalists of a particular community, using offensive monkers with derogatory communal overtones, on a social platform is not only an offence against the essence of womanhood but also an act designed to enrage passion and cause ill will amongst communities and disturb communal harmony. Allegations against the applicant/accused are serious in nature."

The judge, according to a LiveLaw report, found no merit in the bail application and rejected the same stating that allegations were serious in nature and that the investigation still at its infancy.

The court also noted:

"The act is certainly going to have an adverse impact upon the communal harmony of a society wherein a woman has been deified since time immemorial and any attempt to scornfully objectify them is certainly going to invite vehement resistance from the community at large."

Earlier on 14 January, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Patiala House Court Pankaj Sharma while denying Bishnoi bail, noted in his order, "The facts disclose that accused created the App 'Bulli Bai' 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 by objectification."