New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday admonished BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh minister Kunwar Vijay Shah for his comment calling Colonel Sofiya Qureshi the “sister of terrorists.”
“A person holding such an office is expected to maintain such a decree…every sentence uttered by a minister has to be with responsibility,” a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R.Gavai orally said.
The observations were made when senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija, on behalf of Shah, urged the bench to list his appeal against the Madhya Pradesh High Court Order, directing registration of an FIR against him for the unwarranted remarks.
On Wednesday, the HC directed the police to register an First Information Report (FIR) within four hours against Shah, a cabinet minister in the Madhya Pradesh government, for his inflammatory remarks against Col Qureshi, who along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh gave briefing to the media on Operation Sindoor.
Justice Atul Sreedharan took suo motu cognisance of the matter following media reports and directed Director General of Police (DGP) Kailash Makwana to file the FIR under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 196 (promoting enmity between groups) and Section 152 (act endangering sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India). The judge had chided Shah for using “language of the gutters.”
Shah has challenged the HC order on the ground it was passed without hearing him. His appeal references a previous SC judgement that lays down a procedure for HCs to take up suo motu cognizance cases. According to him, the HC erred in dealing the matter under Article 226 (power of high courts to issue certain writs) of the Constitution, while transgressing the settled legal position.
When Makhija impressed upon the court with her argument, the bench rebuked her client for his irresponsible behaviour. “Such a person holding a constitutional office should be responsible.. when this country is going through such a situation. [He] has to know what he is saying. Just because you are a minister…,” CJI Gavai said.
The court declined to stay further proceedings in the case, while fixing the matter for further hearing Friday. Makhija’s request to restrain the police from taking coercive steps was declined.
When told that the HC is scheduled to hear the case Thursday, the bench asked Makhija to let the court know about the proceedings in the apex court.
“The FIR is already registered, why should we interfere now? You inform the HC that we are hearing the matter,” CJI Gavai told her.
The bench did not accept Makhija’s suggestion that the court should inform the HC registrar about the pendency of Shah’s appeal in SC. “You go and tell the HC; we will have it tomorrow,” CJI Gavai remarked.
Shah courted controversy by saying, “Jinhone humari betiyon ke sindoor ujade the… humne unhiki behen bhej kar ke unki aisi ki taisi karwayi. (Those people (terrorists) who had wiped out the sindoor (vermilion) of our sisters (in the Pahalgam terror attack)… we avenged these people by sending their sister to destroy them)”.
After facing flak left, right and centre, the BJP minister posted a video on his ‘X’ account, publicly apologising for the remarks.
Before the SC, Makhija claimed Shah’s comments were reported out of context and were widely misunderstood. She blamed the media for the uproar and claimed that Shah’s intention was not as was highlighted in the news.
(Edited by Tony Rai)