Delhi court denies early bail for engineering student in GitHub case: ‘His conduct is an affront to secularism’
Observing that his conduct went against the “constitutional ethos of secularism”, a Delhi court denied early bail to engineering student Vishal Sudhirkumar Jha (21), one defendants in the case of the GitHub application in which photos of more than 100 Muslim women were published. without their consent accompanied by derogatory comments.
Jha, a second-year civil engineering student studying in Bengaluru, was arrested by Mumbai police earlier this month.
Stating that another defendant, Neeraj Bishnoi, along with Jha developed the app, the court said, “The defendant’s conduct in this case runs counter to the ever-cherished constitutional ethos of secularism and of fraternity guaranteeing the dignity of every individual and the modesty of a woman. The allegations against the petitioner are of a more serious nature as they are a direct attack on the dignity and modesty of women in a particular community. »
He agreed with the prosecutor’s argument that his custody was necessary to unravel the murky and undetected aspects of the crime.
As of the last court date, the court had asked the DCP to submit a report on whether two separate FIRs could be legally investigated against Jha. In submitting its report on Saturday, the DCP said the FIR filed in Mumbai was filed before the one in Delhi. Following this, the court decided to proceed with the hearing of the early bail plea.
Lawyer Shivam Deshmukh, who argued on behalf of Jha, argued that he had “no role to play in creating the alleged application. Although, for the sake of argument, it is alleged that the applicant was following the “Bolli Bai” application, this does not in any way constitute an offence”.
He argued that Jha surrendered to the Western Cybercrime (BKC) Division in Mumbai on January 4 and was remanded in custody on January 10.
Additional Attorney General Irfan Ahmed objected to the plea, saying the plaintiff was “part of a group chat called ‘Trad Mahasabha’ and following a discussion in said group chat, the app alleged on GitHub was created by defendant Neeraj Bishnoi”.
The prosecutor further indicated that the investigation is at an initial stage and that he is to be questioned, for which a team has already been sent to Mumbai.
The application was hosted on the American software platform GitHub on December 31. On January 2, separate FIRs were registered in Delhi and Mumbai, based on complaints from women who were among those targeted.
Earlier this month, a Delhi court rejected the bail plea of Bishnoi, who is accused of creating the app, observing that his act was an “affront to the dignity of women in a community individuality and to the communal harmony of society”.