Video of Bobby Kataria smoking on Dubai-Delhi Spicejet flight goes viral, Aviation Minister reacts

Taking cognizance of the matter, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security told ANI that Bobby Kataria had travelled from Dubai to New Delhi on Spice Jet flight on January 23 this year.

A video of Balvinder Kataria also known as Bobby Kataria smoking a cigarette on a flight has gone viral. The video was taken by one of Kataria's aides and was shared on his social media handles earlier. However, the video was later deleted from his accounts. The video has again gone viral and has also been shared by an MLA from Uttarakhand. Taking cognizance of the matter, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security told ANI that Kataria had travelled from Dubai to New Delhi on Spice Jet flight on January 23 this year and the video isn't available on his Facebook or Instagram page anymore.

Aviation Minister's reaction

Also, an action was taken by the aviation security earlier, mentioned Bureau of Civil Aviation Security to ANI on viral video of a man smoking in flight. When asked about the viral video of a man smoking inside flight, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said "Investigating it. There will be no tolerance towards such hazardous behaviour". 

Bobby Kataria is a Haryana-resident and social media star who is known for uploading controversial videos on his social media accounts. Recently, he shared a video of him enjoying sips of alcohol in the middle of a road and consuming liquor. 

Spicejet statement

A Spicejet spokesperson said, “This is with reference to a video on social media of a passenger smoking onboard a SpiceJet aircraft. The matter had been investigated thoroughly in January 2022 when the video was brought to our notice and a complaint had been filed by the airline with the Udyog Vihar police station in Gurugram. The video, the investigation had revealed, was shot on 20th January 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 on-boarding 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 referred to the Internal Committee constituted as per the provisions of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) on handling of unruly passengers (not consisting of any SpiceJet employee). The said passenger was put on a no flying list by the airline for 15 days in February 2022,” added Spicejet.