The Supreme Court on Friday pulled up Madhya Pradesh minister Kunwar Vijay Shah over his remarks against Colonel Sophiya Qureshi during Operation Sindoor terming it “most unfortunate” and “without remorse” and directed the state government to clear its stand on granting sanction for probing the criminal case within two weeks.
The court noted that on January 19, it had asked the state to take a call on granting the sanction against the minister. On Friday, the state informed that a decision in this regard is still pending. While terming the remarks “unfortunate”, the state said it was never meant to demean the officer but to praise her.
The bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi said, “What he said was most unfortunate and he had no sense of remorse.” The court further noted his conduct after making the statement was equally noteworthy as he was not apologetic.
What’s the case
Shah came under fire for his remarks made during a public address in Indore, where he alluded to Colonel Qureshi by saying, “Those who widowed our daughters, we sent a sister of their own to teach them a lesson.” The court took serious note of the statement’s timing, made just after Operation Sindoor, India’s military strikes on terror targets in Pakistan last year.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta appearing for the state said, “What he said was unfortunate. Though I am not defending him, possibly he wanted to praise the officer. This could be a possible view. He could not articulate it properly and for which he later apologised.”
The bench refused to accept the suggestion. CJI remarked, “We know political personalities when they have to praise someone, what words they use. If at all he felt it was a mistake, he should have apologised.”
The court told Mehta that it was not just a one-off case as it referred to the special investigation team (SIT) constituted by it which noted other similar utterances by the same minister. Posting the matter after two weeks, the court told Mehta, “Let the state comply with our January 19 order. The state may look into the totality of circumstances and take a decision.”
Shah was represented in court by senior advocate Maninder Singh who clarified that the statement was made on May 12 last year and on May 13 he was on national television offering an apology. He pointed out that Shah even wrote a letter that he released in public domain clarifying his remarks.
“Writing a letter is not an apology but a fake defence. He should have given it on the front page (of the newspaper). This is the first thing he should have said that I tender an apology. Let the state now take a call,” the bench remarked.
Mehta told the court that he will instruct the government and sought a week’s time to take a decision on sanction.
The SIT in January informed the court that its request for sanction against the minister is pending with the state government since August 2025. The court then allowed two weeks for the state to take a final call.
The SIT report prepared by a three-member team comprising senior officials of the Madhya Pradesh police said that the sanction was sought as a pre-condition under section 217(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Samhita, 2023 (BNSS) for the trial court to take cognizance of offences against him. This sanction is required when the offences to be tried include hate speech, assertions aimed at promoting enmity and prejudicial to national integrity punishable under BNS sections 196 and 197.
The SIT report also referred to past instances when Shah made controversial remarks. The bench cited this portion in its order and said, “We would like SIT to make endeavour to trace out details of those instances attributed to petitioner (Shah). A report on those instances shall also be submitted to this court.”
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