Col Sofiya Qureshi remarks row: SC closes suo moto proceedings pending before MP High Court against Vijay Shah

New Delhi, May 28 (IANS) To avoid multiplicity of litigation, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed closure of suo moto proceedings pending before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which had directed registration of an FIR against Tribal Welfare Minister Vijay Shah for his controversial remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, the Indian Army officer who briefed the media throughout Operation Sindoor against Pakistan.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta ordered extension of its earlier order, which had directed that no coercive action would be taken against Shah, including arrest, subject to the condition that he should join and fully cooperate with the investigation.

The Justice Surya Kant-led Bench was apprised by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Madhya Pradesh government, that the three-member SIT visited Raikunda village near the Mhow region of Indore district, where Shah had attended a public programme on May 12 and made the controversial remarks.

Seeking more time for investigation, SG Mehta submitted that the SIT has collected relevant documents, including video footage of the event and a list of attendees, and the probe remained in its initial stage.

After hearing the submissions, the apex court directed re-listing of the matter and ordered the SIT to file a fresh status report before the next date of listing.

In the meantime, the Justice Surya Kant-led Bench ordered extension of its earlier order protecting the Tribal Welfare Minister from any coercive action, including arrest, in relation to the subject FIR.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had directed its registry to accept the SIT’s status report after an oral mentioning was made by the state government’s counsel before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Datta.

Shah has filed a special leave petition (SLP) before the top court challenging the order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which had directed registration of an FIR against him over his distasteful remarks.

Talking about Operation Sindoor, Shah had reportedly said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sent a "sister from the same community" as those in Pakistan to avenge the April 22 terror strike in Kashmir's Pahalgam, sparking nationwide outrage.

Last week, the Supreme Court had ordered the state Director General of Police to form a SIT of three senior IPS officers of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, including a woman IPS officer, to probe the FIR registered against Shah under Sections 152, 196(1)(b), and 197 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

"The SIT shall be headed by an officer not below the rank of Inspector General of Police, and the remaining two members shall also be in the rank of Superintendent of Police or above. The investigation of the subject FIR shall be entrusted to the SIT forthwith," the Justice Surya Kant-led Bench said in its order passed on May 19.

Further, it had ordered that no coercive action would be taken against Shah, including arrest, but asked the Madhya Pradesh Minister to join and fully cooperate with the investigation.

Following the Supreme Court order, Madhya Pradesh DGP Kailash Makwana constituted the SIT on May 19, comprising IG, Sagar Range, Pramod Verma (2001 batch IPS), DIG, SAF, Kalyan Chakraborty (2010 batch), and Dindori SP Vahini Singh (2014 batch).

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, on May 14, had ordered the DGP to register a criminal case against Shah within four hours and warned the top police official of contempt action in case of any delay in compliance. A bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Anuradha Shukla said that prima facie, an offence of promoting enmity between different castes, religion and language was made out. The Justice Sreedharan-led Bench opined that referring to Colonel Qureshi as a "sister of terrorists" is an offence of hurting the sentiments and faith of the Muslim community.

--IANS

pds/vd