Supreme Court rejects Vijay Shah’s apology; orders SIT probe over his derogatory statements
On Monday, the Supreme Court denied Madhya Pradesh Minister Vijay Shah's apology over his controversial comments about Army officer Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.
New Delhi (India) May 20: The Supreme Court directed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into statements made by Kunwar Vijay Shah, a minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who provided media briefings during India's cross-border military operation against Pakistan, Operation Sindoor.
The Madhya Pradesh government was ordered by a panel consisting of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh to form the SIT by Tuesday. Three senior IPS officials from outside the state must be on the team, and at least one of them must be a woman. The deadline for the SIT to provide a status report is May 28.
"We are constituting a SIT with three IPS officers and one should be the rank of IG or DGP rank. All of them should be [from] outside the State. It is a litmus test and we want the state to submit the SIT report to us. We would like to have a very close watch," the Court said.
The court made it clear that it will keep a close eye on the matter, calling the coming SIT investigation a "litmus test" for the Madhya Pradesh government.
The Court also ordered Shah to cooperate with the investigation and delayed his arrest.
According to Justice Kant, the Minister's words were "crass, thoughtless remarks." The court stated that apologising to the court in order to "wriggle out of a situation" was useless.
Vijay Shah had requested the Supreme Court to dismiss the formal complaint that had been filed against him for his derogatory statements. His lawyer said that he had already apologised when asked if he had done so. The court however, questioned its sincerity and intention.
On May 14, the High Court of Madhya Pradesh filed a suo motu complaint against him and ordered that criminal charges be filed against him.
After the High Court’s order, an FIR was filed against Shah under Sections 152, 196(1)(b), and 197(1)(c) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).Then he moved to the Supreme Court for relief.
Vijay Shah said, "Modi ji sent their own sister (Col Sophia Qureshi) to take revenge" during a public conference regarding India's attack against Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack.
Aadrika Tayal
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