Supreme Court: In a case arising from BJP Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah’s controversial remarks referring to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi as a “sister of terrorists,” which drew public outrage and legal scrutiny, a division bench of Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta, JJ. extended interim protection against arrest in connection with an FIR registered by the Madhya Pradesh Police.
Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who had been the face of Operation Sindoor, an IAF-led counter-terror mission. As a result, on May 14, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had directed registration of an FIR under Sections 152, 196(1)(b), and 197(1)(c) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (‘BNS’). Later that night, Vijay Shah posted a video on his official Twitter account, offering a public apology, in which he referred to Colonel Qureshi as the “Nation’s sister.”
The following day, the High Court expressed dissatisfaction with the FIR and declared its intent to monitor the investigation, prompting Vijay Shah to file a second petition before the Supreme Court challenging this decision.
On May 19, the Supreme Court stayed Vijay Shah’s arrest, constituted the Special Investigation Team (‘SIT’) comprising three senior IPS officers from outside Madhya Pradesh to ensure impartiality in the probe and had stayed Vijay Shah’s arrest on the condition that he would fully cooperate with the investigation.
The Court took note of the status report filed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Bhopal, which stated that the SIT, constituted on the Supreme Court’s earlier directions had visited the site of the alleged incident on May 21, seized mobile phones, recorded witness statements, and collected other material. Since the investigation was still at a preliminary stage, additional time was sought, and the matter was re-listed, with directions for continued investigation and submission of a further status report before the next date of hearing.
In view of the Supreme Court having taken cognizance of the matter, it also directed the Madhya Pradesh High Court to close the proceedings pending before it, arising out of its suo motu order which had directed registration of the FIR against Vijay Shah.
Source: Press
