The Supreme Court criticised the Madhya Pradesh government for delaying sanction to prosecute minister Kunwar Vijay Shah over objectionable remarks. CJI Surya Kant said, “Just comply with our order, enough is enough, the first thing was an apology.”
The Supreme Court expressed displeasure over the Madhya Pradesh government’s delay in taking a decision on granting sanction to prosecute its minister, Kunwar Vijay Shah, for remarks the court termed objectionable.
The remarks were allegedly made by Kunwar Vijay Shah about Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who had briefed the media during last year’s Operation Sindoor.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted that the decision on the request of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to grant prosecution sanction against Shah should have been made two weeks earlier.
The SIT had investigated the matter on orders of the top court and subsequently sought the government’s sanction to prosecute Shah.
CJI Kant remarked,
“Just comply with our order now. Enough is enough. The first thing should have been an apology. It was only after we took cognizance. List this after four weeks,”
The court made these observations after Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta submitted that the decision on granting sanction to prosecute the minister was still awaited.
Mehta also suggested that Shah’s remarks might have been misunderstood.
SG Mehta said,
“What he said was unfortunate. Possibly he wanted to praise the lady officer,”
However, CJI Kant responded,
“It was not unfortunate. It was most unfortunate.”
Justice Bagchi further pointed out that, according to the SIT’s status report, Shah had a pattern of making similar comments.
The Court added,
“Let the State consider the totality of circumstances and take a call,”
Earlier, Shah drew widespread criticism after he reportedly made the following remark at an event,
“Those who widowed our daughters, we sent a sister of their own to teach them a lesson.”
Colonel Qureshi was among the Army officers who briefed the media about India’s cross-border military response under Operation Sindoor.
The operation was carried out following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, in which 26 Indian civilians were killed.
The remark was made during a public event in Raikunda village, Ambedkar Nagar (Mhow), and it triggered strong backlash, along with demands for Shah to resign.
An FIR was filed against Shah on the late evening of May 14. Police registered the case against him under Sections 152, 196(1)(b), and 197(1)(c) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). These provisions relate to actions that endanger national sovereignty and to conduct that fosters enmity between different groups.
Shah then approached the Supreme Court after challenging the High Court’s order.
Case Title: Kunwar Vijay Shah Versus The High Court Of Madhya Pradesh And Ors