The Supreme Court on Wednesday closed the proceedings pending before the Madhya Pradesh High Court against the state's Tribal Affairs Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah over his controversial remarks against Colonel Sofia Qureshi, who has been the public face of India’s press briefings on ‘Operation Sindoor’. A Bench led by Justice Surya Kant said, “Let the High Court close the proceedings in view of the case here (in the Supreme Court). Let there shall be no parallel proceedings.”
The court also extended the time given to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was constituted on its earlier orders, to carry out the probe. The matter will now be taken up after the summer vacation, at which time the court will review a fresh status report to be filed by the SIT. The Bench further clarified that its interim order dated May 19—staying the arrest of Shah and directing him to cooperate with the investigation—would continue to remain in force until further orders.
Earlier, on May 19, the Supreme Court had rejected Shah’s apology and directed the Madhya Pradesh Director General of Police to constitute an SIT headed by an Inspector General of Police (IGP), along with two other IPS officers, to investigate the minister’s controversial remarks.
Appearing for the Madhya Pradesh Government on Wednesday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Bench that the SIT had been constituted and had already begun its investigation. The SIT, he said, had seized Shah’s mobile phone and the script of the speech he delivered. Mehta also told the court that statements of several witnesses had been recorded but, given that the investigation was still at an early stage, more time was needed to complete the probe.
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Shah, a senior BJP leader in Madhya Pradesh, drew strong criticism after referring to Col. Sofia Qureshi in derogatory terms during a public address in Ramkunda village near Indore. In his speech, Shah allegedly attempted to portray Col. Qureshi as a “sister of terrorists”, sparking a political uproar and prompting the Congress to demand his resignation.
Following the backlash, Shah attempted to defuse the controversy by stating that if his remarks had hurt anyone, he was willing to apologise “ten times over” and emphasized that he respected Col. Qureshi more than his own sister.
The controversy had taken a legal turn when the Madhya Pradesh High Court, on May 14, directed the registration of an FIR against Shah, observing that his statements were “dangerous” and “scurrilous” and employed “language of the gutters”. The court remarked that Shah’s comments had the potential to incite disharmony and promote enmity and ill-will among different religious communities.
During the May 19 hearing, the Supreme Court had sharply criticised Shah’s conduct, saying, “You are a public figure… a seasoned politician. You should weigh your words when you speak. Should we display your video here? Media people are not going into the depth of your video. You were at a stage where you were going to use abusive language, very filthy language... but something prevailed on you and you stopped. This is an important issue for the Armed Forces. We need to be very responsible.”
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