The Supreme Court on Friday asked State governments for their response to a plea by Aumkareshwar Thakur, who allegedly created the Sulli Deals mobile application, to club the FIRs registered against him in connection with posting offensive and communal content on the Internet.
But the court also wondered whether these FIRs could be clubbed at all, as they represent separate and distinct offences against him based on complaints filed by different women from various parts of the country. The FIRs also relate to two different apps — Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai.
“There are different offences. One is Sulli Deals and another is Bulli Bai. Can different offences be clubbed?” a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked.
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“You [Thakur] have uploaded photos of various people and each one of them is an aggrieved party,” the Bench addressed Thakur side.
The court has nevertheless sought replies from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra governments.
The Bench refused to stay the investigation against the accused.
Thakur allegedly developed Sulli Deals, an open-source app containing photographs and personal information of Muslim women.
“The relief sought in the present writ petition is in terms of the judgment passed by this court in ‘TT Antony vs. State of Kerala’ for quashing of all the same or similar FIRs except the first one i.e., and that a single investigation may be proceeded with. In the alternative, the petitioner prays for clubbing of all the subsequent FIRs with the first FIR registered at the PS Special Cell, Delhi,” his petition said.
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