The Delhi Police have booked senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj and Sanjay Jha, along with Adil Khan, in connection with a political skit performed at Connaught Place that used Santa Claus imagery to comment on worsening air pollution in the capital. The case has been registered following a complaint alleging that the skit and its subsequent circulation on social media hurt religious sentiments.
According to police officials, the FIR relates to videos shared from the leaders’ official social media accounts showing a staged performance conducted on December 17 and 18, 2025, in one of Delhi’s busiest public spaces.
The video clips at the centre of the controversy depict two men dressed as Santa Claus, wearing anti-pollution masks, who are shown collapsing on the streets of Connaught Place. In the visuals, Saurabh Bhardwaj and others are seen attempting to revive the characters by performing CPR, while highlighting the severity of Delhi’s air quality crisis.
The skit was presented as a symbolic protest against rising Air Quality Index levels and was aimed at drawing public attention to environmental and governance concerns related to pollution.
The complainant alleged that Santa Claus is a religious and cultural figure associated with Christianity and that portraying the character fainting and collapsing in a public street amounted to mockery and derogatory representation.
The complaint further stated that the mock CPR scenes ridiculed a symbol connected to the legacy of Saint Nicholas and the Christmas festival. It argued that the use of religious imagery for political messaging, particularly during the final days of the Advent season, reflected a deliberate and malicious intent to outrage religious feelings.
According to the complaint, the skit reduced a religious icon to a political prop, thereby crossing the line from political expression into religious insensitivity.
Based on the complaint, Delhi Police registered an FIR under relevant sections of the law against all three accused. Officials confirmed that an investigation is currently underway to examine the circumstances under which the skit was performed, the intent behind it, and the manner in which the content was disseminated on social media platforms.
Responding to the FIR, AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj defended the skit and alleged that the action reflected growing discomfort within the BJP over issues being raised on social media, particularly pollution and environmental degradation.
In a post on X, Bhardwaj claimed the skit succeeded in forcing public discussion on Delhi’s deteriorating air quality, AQI levels, and environmental concerns including the Aravalli range. He alleged that as these issues gained traction, investigative agencies and the police were being used to intimidate political opponents.
Bhardwaj also questioned the intent behind the complaint, alleging selective outrage over religious sentiments. He claimed that similar incidents involving Santa Claus in Delhi in the past had not triggered any such response.
“Even BJP workers are now donning the mask of Christians and saying their religious sentiments have been hurt, and the police are registering FIRs. When Santa Claus’s caps were yanked off in Lajpat Nagar and they were threatened and chased away with abuses, no BJP Christian worker’s religious sentiments were hurt,” Bhardwaj said.
As the investigation proceeds, the case is likely to add to the growing political friction between the AAP and the BJP in the national capital, particularly amid heightened scrutiny over governance, pollution, and public expression.
