Mumbai Court Discharges Accused in Bulli Bai App Case

A Mumbai magistrate's court has discharged Vishal Sudhirkumar Jha, an accused in the Bulli Bai app case, finding that the prosecution failed to prove his direct involvement. The court determined that merely following the application on social media, without evidence of sharing, creation, or supply of photographs, did not amount to an offense.

The court also held that Jha's contact with co-accused did not, by itself, establish his criminal liability. Consequently, Jha was discharged from charges under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act. He is the first accused to be discharged in the case, while proceedings against others continue.

The Bulli Bai app, which appeared on GitHub in January 2022, listed photographs of over 100 Muslim women for a purported online auction, leading to targeted harassment. This incident followed a similar controversy, Sulli Deals, in July 2021, raising concerns about online harassment of minority women.

During the hearing, the court examined the chargesheet and questioned the investigating officer. The officer could not provide evidence that Jha had shared the Bulli Bai app on Twitter, as alleged by the complainant. The court noted there was no record of Jha sharing the app on his Twitter handle.

Citing an Allahabad High Court judgment that "following the page on website is not an offence" under the IT Act, the Mumbai court concluded that Jha's alleged role was limited to following the app. Without evidence of direct involvement in creating the app or sharing photographs, the court found insufficient grounds to frame charges and allowed Jha's discharge application.