SC Extends Stay on BJP Minister Vijay Shah's Arrest; Closes Madhya Pradesh HC Proceedings
The Wire Staff
Real journalism holds power accountable
Since 2015, The Wire has done just that.
But we can continue only with your support.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday, May 28, extended its interim stay on the arrest of BJP minister Kunwar Vijay Shah in the case lodged by Madhya Pradesh police over his misogynistic and communal remarks directed at Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta also closed the suo motu proceedings pending before the Madhya Pradesh high court as the Supreme Court was already seized of the matter.
"Let high court close the proceedings in view of a case here. There shall be no parallel proceedings," the top court said in its order, according to Bar and Bench.
Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the Madhya Pradesh government, told the Supreme Court that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted, comprising three officers as suggested by the court. It has started a probe into the minister’s speech.
The court took note of the status report filed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Bhopal, and allowed more time for the probe to be completed.
The bench was also told that Shah's mobile phone has been seized.
In the previous hearing, the Supreme Court had rejected Vijay Shah’s apology for his remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and said that the “entire nation is ashamed” of him.
“The kind of crass comments you made, completely thoughtlessly… We don’t need this apology,” it had said.
Shah, a cabinet minister of Madhya Pradesh and an MP in Lok Sabha, had made derogatory remarks against Colonel Qureshi, who was one of the two women faces of the press briefings on Operation Sindoor.
Addressing a gathering, he had painted her as a “sister of terrorists”, alluding to her Muslim identity.
“Jinhone humari betiyon ke sindoor ujade the…humne unki behen bhej kar ke unki aisi ki taisi karwayi (Those [terrorists] who wiped out the vermilion of our sisters [in the Pahalgam attack]… we avenged these people by sending their sister to destroy them),” Shah had said, repeating at least thrice that their community’s sister was sent by Modiji to destroy them.
Subsequently, the Madhya Pradesh high court had initiated a suo motu proceeding and ordered a criminal case to be registered against the minister.
This article went live on May twenty-eighth, two thousand twenty five, at fifty-five minutes past four in the afternoon.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.