BJP’s Tajinder Bagga “flouts the spirit” of SC’s ban on the sale of firecrackers

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)‘s Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Bagga has stirred controversy after posting a video of himself distributing firecrackers ahead of the festival of Diwali on Thursday.

The Supreme Court has banned the sale of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) till November 1 to gauge the impact of firecrackers on Delhi’s pollution levels.

Bagga, however, has been seen as being defiant all along. He had said in the wake of the SC order that he would buy firecrackers worth Rs 50,000 and distribute them to the children living in a Delhi slum.

The BJP leader had on October 09 announced that he would buy firecrackers "worth Rs 50,000 and give them to the children living in the slums of Hari Nagar so that they can celebrate Diwali."

“It will not be a violation or defamation of the Supreme Court order because the court has only banned the sale of firecrackers. It has not put a ban on buying or bursting them,” Bagga had been quoted as saying.

After the video of Bagga handing out firecrackers went viral, the controversial BJP spokesperson told India Today that he had bought the firecrackers from outside Delhi.