[BREAKING] Bulli Bai: Women lawyers write to CJI NV Ramana to take cognisance, issue preventive guidelines

The Delhi High Court Women Lawyers Forum (DHCWLF) has addressed a letter petition to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, to take cognizance of the Bulli Bai app on which details of more than 100 prominent Muslim women were put out allowing users to participate in an 'auction' of those women..The letter signed by 77 lawyers of the DHCWLF, said that the "Sulli Deals" and "Bulli Deals" issues highlighted the failure of the Central and State governments to protect the minority community from flagrant violation of Article 21 of Constitution which guarantees right to live with dignity."We appeal to the Hon’ble CJI and his companion Hon'ble Judges to treat our letter and the articles attached herein, as a letter petition, highlighting the failure of the law enforcement agencies Central and State Governments to secure to the Minority Communities in India, their Fundamental Right to life with Dignity and Safety guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India and to put in place preventive guidelines to ensure accountability of law enforcement agencies and for PREVENTIVE actions so that these incidents never occur again," the letter prayed..Apps like Sulli Deals have created a sense of extreme insecurity among Muslim women in India, especially in the back drop of public calls of genocide of the Muslim community, the letter stated. .It further pointed out how the culprits trolled and subject Muslim women to surveillance and illegally used their photographs to put them up for auction as maids.The reason Bulli deals happened was because an earlier such instance of Sulli deals went unpunished, it was submitted."We believe that the “Bulli Deals” App happened because no one was punished for Sulli Deals. Although FIRs had been previously registered in the matter of Sulli Deals, no one was arrested and the investigation has been a non-starter, in the same," read the letter..The plea prayed for directions to prevent the dehumanization of minorities by using pejoratives, "likening them to animals and germs, spreading fake news by disseminating fearful stereotypes, inciting others to harass or boycott the targeted communities, and giving calls for genocide against minority communities and strictly prohibiting the auctions of human beings like animals.".The plea also prayed that the top court should monitor the criminal investigation being conducted by Mumbai Police and ensure that the investigation is carried out into the Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai App incidences including:- investigation into the sources of funding and / or handlers of the persons who set up Sulli Bai & Bulli Bai App, money trail that financed the said App; and - identifying the master minds behind the surveillance of Muslim women illegally auctioned vide the App..Some of the other prayers are:- Appropriate directions be issued to DM/ SP of every district for preventing the vilification of minorities, spread of fake news about them and calls for genocide against minority communities;- appropriate directions to the Central and State government to secure and ensure to members of the minority community, an atmosphere within which they can enjoy their right to life with dignity and security;- strictly prohibiting the auctions of human beings like inanimate objects..The 'Bulli bai' app, which appeared on open source platform GitHub, put out details of more than 100 prominent Muslim women allowing users to participate in an 'auction' of those women.It triggered an outrage and based on complaints by women who had been targeted by the app, the cyber cell of Mumbai police registered an FIR on January 1, 2022.The FIR was registered against relevant Twitter handles and developer of Bulli Bai for offences under Sections 153A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion etc), 153B (imputations prejudicial to national-integration), 295A (insulting religious beliefs), 354D (stalking), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 500 (criminal defamation) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of Information Technology Act.The Mumbai Police have arrested three people in connection with the app - Bangalore based student Vishal Kumar and Uttarakhand natives Shweta Singh, Mayank Rawat.The Delhi Police has nabbed one Neeraj Bishnoi from Assam alleged to be “main conspirator” and creator of 'Bulli Bai'.