Smoking inside plane: Delhi Police books influencer

New Delhi: The Delhi Police registered a case on the social media influencer Bobby Kataria for smoking inside a SpiceJet flight. The FIR was based on a complaint filed by Jasbir Singh, Manager of Legal and Company Affairs of SpiceJet, on August 13, PTI reported.

A video has gone viral on social media featuring Kataria smoking inside the plane. In the FIR, the influencer has been charged for alleged violation of security and safety measures, based on the complaint filed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport Police Station.

Jasbir Singh accused Bobby Kataria of uploading pictures and videos on his social media accounts featuring himself with a lighter and smoking a cigarette onboard SpiceJet flight SG 706 from Dubai to Delhi in January 2022, police said on Tuesday. Kataria, a bodybuilder, has 6.3 lakh followers on Instagram.

A senior police official said, "On the basis of the complaint, a case was registered on Monday under section 3(1)(C) of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act 1982 at IGI Airport and investigation of the case is in progress."

It was last week, Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia ordered an investigation into the controversial matter.

SpiceJet had earlier stated, "The video...was shot on January 20, 2022, while passengers were boarding flight SG 706 scheduled to operate from Dubai to Delhi. The said passenger and his co-passengers shot the video on the 21st row when the cabin crew were occupied with completing the onboarding procedure. None of the passengers or crew was aware of the act. The matter came to the airline's notice on January 24, 2022, through social media posts."

"The matter was investigated thoroughly in January 2022 as soon as the video was brought to our notice, and a complaint had been filed by the airline at the Udyog Vihar police station in Gurugram as we have our headquarters in Gurugram. Upon seeking a response from the police authorities in Gurgaon, we were advised on August 12, 2022, that the matter does not fall in their jurisdiction and accordingly, a complaint was lodged with the Delhi Police," he said.

"The matter was investigated thoroughly in January 2022 as soon as the video was brought to our notice, and a complaint had been filed by the airline at the Udyog Vihar police station in Gurugram as we have our headquarters in Gurugram. Upon seeking a response from the police authorities in Gurgaon, we were advised on August 12, 2022, that the matter does not fall in their jurisdiction and accordingly a complaint was lodged with the Delhi Police," it said.

"The matter was also referred to an independent Committee constituted as per the provisions of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) on the handling of unruly passengers (not consisting of any SpiceJet employee), and a decision of the committee is pending," the airlines added.

Passengers are not allowed to carry lighter and smoke inside planes.