AAP workers violate own government’s ban on firecrackers after Kejriwal’s release from Tihar, FIR lodged

Delhi Police has filed an FIR over bursting of firecrackers outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in north Delhi’s Civil Lines to welcome him upon his release from jail. 

A case under Section 223 (disobedience to orders promulgated by public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been registered against unknown persons at the Civil Lines Police station in the incident, an official said. 

Firecrackers were burst outside the CM’s residence after his release from the Tihar Jail on September 13 evening. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers had gathered to welcome their leader. 

The FIR is registered on the complaint of a sub-inspector, who was deployed at the 6 Flag Staff Road on Friday evening. 

“I was deployed at 6 Flag Staff Road for the law and order arrangements at 6.45 pm. A lot of people were gathered and I heard the sound of fire crackers creating pollution,” he has stated in the FIR. The officer said when he went to see, the people who were bursting the crackers ran away. 

The Supreme Court granted bail to Kejriwal on September 13 in a corruption case filed the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. He was lodged in the Tihar Jail for more than five months. 

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on September 9 extended the complete ban on production, storage, sale and use of firecrackers until January 1, 2025. The ban extends to as well as online sales and delivery of firecrackers as well. The action was taken keeping in mind the “danger of increasing air pollution in Delhi during the winter season”. 

The ban will be strictly implemented following an action plan prepared jointly by the Delhi Police, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, and Revenue Department, said Rai. The step was taken to avoid pollution from the burning of firecrackers during winter, he said.