New Delhi, December 20
After the denial of bail to Baazee.com CEO Ayush Bajaj by a lower court for allegedly listing on portal’s website the “sex MMS” involving two Delhi Public School (DPS) students, the Delhi High Court today issued notice to the city police on his appeal against the rejection of the bail plea.
Justice Vikramjit Sen issued a notice to the Delhi police seeking its reply by tomorrow on why the bail plea of Bajaj should not be allowed. Bajaj is a former IITian and is now a US citizen.
Delhi police had arrested Bajaj on Friday, accusing him and his portal of listing the “sex MMS” clip on its site for sale under the title “DPS girl having fun”, since November 24.
The police had alleged that the Baazee chief did not take any step to remove the objectionable clip from the site till the police asked the portal to do so even when the matter was being widely reported in the media.
But Bajaj had claimed himself to be innocent and said he was being implicated in the case despite giving full cooperation to the police.
Senior advocate Arun Jailtely, appearing for Baazee CEO, claimed that no offence could be made against him under the IT Act because the portal did not post the objectionable material on its website on its own.
His counsel claimed that MMS was removed from the site as soon as Bajaj came to know of it from a private party.
His arrest has raised a legal debate on the culpability of website owners in such matters if someone posts any objectionable material on their websites. Legal experts feel that inadequate laws to deal with cyber crimes was a major reason for such a confusion.
Several prominent criminal lawyers to whom The Tribune talked to regarding the complexity of the issue were of the opinion that there was an urgent need for clear laws to deal with cyber crimes.
The DPS MMS or photographing of two Bollywood stars in an alleged “kissing session” is only a glimpse of how technology could be misused.
A city court had dismissed Bajaj’s bail plea on December 18 and had sent him to six days’ judicial custody till December 24.
The police had booked him under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act for publishing and transmitting “obscene and pornographic material in electronic form.”
The police had yesterday arrested the 17-year-old DPS student, who had allegedly recorded on his mobile phone “his sexually explicit act with a fellow girl student” and had then transmitted it through MMS to his friends.
As he is a minor, he could not be tried under the normal laws and had to be dealt with under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act.
