‘Prolonged incarceration detrimental to his career’: Delhi court grants bail to GitHub case accused

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Bishnoi was arrested by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell from his home in Assam on January 6. He is a second-year engineering student from a private college in Bhopal. Police said Bishnoi has been named in four other cases related to the app and for allegedly harassing a Congress official online.

Bishnoi has been granted bail upon furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 subject to conditions that he will not contact the victim or tamper with evidence, and share his location with the investigating officer.

The prosecution opposed his bail arguing that the investigation is ongoing and that Bishnoi allegedly created an objectionable app used to “promote enmity or hatred between communities”. They said he is also involved in similar cases registered at different police stations across India.

To this, the court noted that the investigation is complete and that a chargesheet has been filed in the case. The forensic examination of the laptop and mobile phone is completed and the evidence is with the investigating officer. The court said Bishnoi’s involvement in other cases of similar nature “is not enough to deny him bail as all such cases were registered during the contemporary period”.

Bishnoi’s counsel told the court that he “belongs to a respectable family and has clean antecedents” and that he was falsely implicated in the case. They said there are four other FIRs registered against him having similar allegations.

“The evidence has been collected and which is with the police or in the public domain as such same is beyond the scope of tampering by the accused.,” the counsel argued.

The court also granted bail to 25-year-old Aumkareshwar Thakur who was arrested in January for allegedly creating a similar app in December last year to defame Muslim women.