The BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government has been placed in a state of political and administrative limbo after the Supreme Court urged it to take a decision within two weeks on granting sanction to prosecute state minister and BJP leader Kunwar Vijay Shah for his alleged objectionable remark referring to Indian Army officer Colonel Sofiya Qureshi as the “sister of terrorists” in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.
The direction was issued by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Joymalya Bagchi, after the court was informed that the state government had withheld a decision on sanction on the ground that the matter was pending before the apex court, even though the Special Investigation Team constituted to probe the remarks had already completed its inquiry and submitted its final report to the state authorities.
The bench made it clear that the pendency of proceedings before the Supreme Court could not be used as a shield to indefinitely delay a statutory decision, and it directed the Madhya Pradesh government to file a status report before the next hearing, thereby placing the onus squarely on the executive to clarify whether it intends to allow prosecution of one of its senior ministers.
During the hearing, Shah’s counsel informed the court that the minister had placed an apology on record and had cooperated with the investigation, an argument that failed to persuade the bench, which observed that any expression of regret at this stage carried little weight given the gravity and timing of the remarks.
The case arises from comments allegedly made by Shah at a public programme in Raikunda village of Indore district on May 12 last year, where, while praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership in responding to the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack, his speech took a divisive turn by alluding to Colonel Qureshi, who had been part of the official briefing on Operation Sindoor alongside Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Although Shah did not name the officer directly, his remarks were widely interpreted as communal and derogatory, as they appeared to link Qureshi’s religious identity with that of the attackers, an interpretation reinforced by the applause the speech reportedly received from the audience, including BJP leaders present on the stage.
Following the circulation of the video on social media, the Madhya Pradesh High Court took suo motu cognisance of the matter on May 14, strongly objected to the remarks, and ordered the registration of an FIR, which was subsequently lodged under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, after which the Supreme Court stepped in, described the comments as shameful, and ordered the constitution of a three-member SIT.