Santa Claus video: Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj, 2 others face FIR for hurting Christians
New Delhi: Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj and two other party leaders were booked for hurting the religious sentiments of the Christian community through improper depiction of Santa Claus in a political video related to the city’s air quality, a police official said on Thursday.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Sanjay Jha and Adil Ahmed, along with Bharadwaj, were named in the FIR for featuring a Santa Claus wearing a gas mask and depicting him as “fainted” in a video posted on the social media account of these leaders on December 17 and 18, the official said.
The AAP leaders have been booked under Section 302 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), which carries a punishment of up to one year.
The provision penalises intentionally wounding someone’s religious feelings through words, sounds, gestures, or placing objects, with punishments up to one year imprisonment, a fine, or both, aiming to protect religious harmony and free speech.
The FIR was registered on the complaint of advocate Kushboo George, who alleged that the AAP leaders depicted Santa Claus in a derogatory manner in their video.
The complaint said the video is linked to a political skit performed and shot in the Connaught Place area in Central Delhi.
George said that the use of Santa Claus as a prop in the video, the act of making him faint and falling on the road, was derogatory and deliberate to hurt the religious sentiments of Christians.
The complaint said the video with an improper depiction of Santa Claus amounted to making a mockery of the sanctity of Saint Nicholas and Christmas.
She said the derogatory act was deliberate, malicious and carried out during the holy season of Advent that precedes Christmas.
Earlier, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva had also hit out at the AAP leaders for using Santa Claus as a prop in their video and sought a public apology from them.