The Metropolitan Magistrate at Bandra Komal Singh Rajput pronounced the verdict on January 20, 2022, rejecting the bail applications filed by the accused Vishal Jha, Mayank Rawat and Shweta Singh, in the Bulli Bai case.
The three accused - Bangalore student Vishal Jha, Uttarakhand residents Shweta Singh and Mayank Rawat - had pointed out in their petitions that they had been falsely implicated in the case as they had not committed any offence and had no criminal antecedents whatsoever. They had also claimed that they had not created any mobile applications, nor were they connected to the other accused in the case.
Advocate Shivam Deshmukh arguing for 21-year-old Vishal Jha had stated that the prosecution failed to make out a case on their allegation that the Twitter account - @khalsa - had been used to malign the image of the complainant or any other women.
Meanwhile, Advocate Sandeep Sherkhane for Rawat argued that his client did not have any criminal antecedent and did not make any app nor posted anything against any community.
The three accused had been arrested by the Cyber Cell of the Mumbai Police after an FIR was registered on January 1 against relevant Twitter handles and the developer of Bulli Bai for offences under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Information Technology Act, 2000. It was based on complaints of women targeted by the app. The app was used to auction Muslim women on Twitter leading to very derogatory, abusive comments and remarks directed at them.
