Bhopal: Taking suo motu cognisance of his controversial statement regarding Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday ordered the Director General of Police (DGP) to register an FIR against BJP cabinet minister Kunwar Vijay Shah.
A division bench of Justices Atul Shreedharan and Anuradha Shukla ordered the DGP to register the FIR against the BJP minister within four hours failing which he would face
contempt of court.
Colonel Qureishi, along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, were the face of the armed forces as they briefed the media and the nation about the progress of Operation Sindoor.
The minister, Justice Shreedharan pointed out, used the language of the “gutters”.
Observing that Shah made nauseating remarks against Colonel Qureshi, by way of innuendo which can refer to none other than her, as there is no one else who fit the description, the judge said, “His comments are disparaging and dangerous, not just to the officer in question but to the armed forces itself.”
“Comments are cancerous and dangerous as now they have started reaching out to the armed forces of this country,” the judge added.
The high court ordered registration of an FIR under Section 152 (acts endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, emphasising that the minister’s statement referring to Colonel Qureshi as the “sister of the terrorists” of the Pahalgam attack “encourages feelings of separatist activities by imputing separatist feeling to anyone who is Muslim, which thereby endangers the sovereignty or unity and integrity of India.”
It further ordered Section 196 1 (B) be invoked stating that deriding the Army colonel by referring to her as the “sister of terrorists” may be prejudicial to the maintenance of religious harmony as it has the propensity to fuel an impression that irrespective of the selfless duties of a person towards India, such a person could still be derided only because that person belongs to the Muslim faith.
Section 197—which makes imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration as punishable offences— was also to be invoked as prima facie Shah’s statement has the propensity to cause disharmony and feelings of enmity or hatred or ill-will between the members of the Muslim faith and other persons from other religions, the HC said.
The matter will be next heard Thursday.
(Edited by Tony Rai)