New Delhi: With both the Mumbai Police and the Delhi Police having registered their own FIRs over the "BulliBai" app — where influential and outspoke Muslim women were "auctioned", a Delhi court on Friday asked the Delhi Police to explain the difference between the two cases — citing a Supreme Court judgment that disallows the same offence to be probed in multiple FIRs.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana asked the Delhi Police to explain the difference between its FIR and the one filed by the Mumbai Police and sought to know which one was registered first.
The court's remarks came while it was hearing an anticipatory bail plea filed by Vishal Jha, the first person to be arrested in the BulliBai case by Mumbai Police. The court of ASJ Rana thus directed the concerned Deputy Commissioner of Police to respond to these queries — further restricting the Delhi Police from taking any coercive action against Jha in the meantime.
The court said, "The concerned IO has not been able to assist this court with respect to the aforesaid issue. Consequently, I deem it appropriate to call for a report from the concerned DCP in this regard. Accordingly, worthy DCP is requested to file a detailed reply, by way of an affidavit, clearly depicting the difference between subject matter of the two FIRs and also depicting that which FIR is anterior in point of time," according to legal news website Bar & Bench, which reported the hearing on Friday.
While both the Mumbai Police and Delhi Police had received complaints from victims of the BulliBai application, the Mumbai Police had announced their probe before the Delhi Police and even made arrests in the case before the Delhi Police.
However, the Delhi Police was the first to reach Neeraj Bishnoi, the 21-year-old man they believe created the application. A local court here has already denied Bishnoi bail, holding that prima facie he appeared to have created the app — which was an affront to the dignity of women of a particular community.
The court had also reiterated that the creation of the app and the purpose for which it was created clearly had communal overtones.