MP Minister Vijay Shah Probably Wanted To Praise Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, But Ended Up Saying Something Else : SG Tells Supreme Court

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta on Friday proposed to the Supreme Court if a lenient view can be taken towards Madhya Pradesh Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah in the criminal case over his objectionable remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.

The Solicitor General said that probably the Minister intended to praise the officer, but ended up saying something else as he could not articulate the message properly. He added that he was not defending the statements of the Minister, which were described as "unfortunate."

The SG clarified that it was his personal view, and not the stand of the State of Madhya Pradesh, which was directed by the Court in January to decide on granting sanction to prosecute the Minister within two months.

The bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked if the State has complied with the direction to decide on the sanction. The SG replied in the negative and requested for more time.

The bench was hearing the petition filed by Vijay Shah challenging a suo motu direction passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court in May 2025 to register an FIR against him over his comments, which allegedly described Colonel Qureshi as a sister of the terrorists. The Supreme Court last year, while staying his arrest, had constituted a Special Investigation Team to investigate the matter. After the SIT submitted a final report, the Court asked the State to decide on granting sanction (which is necessary for the prosecution of the offence under Section 196 BNS)

At the start of today's hearing, the SG said, "What he said was definitely unfortunate. He wanted to say something..."

"It was most unfortunate, and then he has no sense of repentance," CJI Surya Kant commented.

"He possibly, I am not defending him, this is my view, not the view of the Government. Possibly he wanted to praise the lady, he could not articulate properly, but he ended up saying something," SG said. The Minister had allegedly said that India avenged the Pahalgam attack by sending the sister of the terrorists in Operation Sindoor to destroy them.  Colonel Sofiya Qureshi had become the face of 'Operation Sindoor' - of which yesterday was the first anniversary-  after she gave press briefings about the military operations carried out by the Indian Air Force against Pakistani terrorist sites.

The CJI did not agree with the SG's statement that the Minister could not articulate properly. "Political personalities are very articulate; they say what they want to. If it was a slip of tongue, he would have immediately apologised."

Referring to the reference in the SIT report to the other controversial statements made by the minister, Justice Bagchi said,  "The man is in the habit of making such statements."

Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, for Shah, submitted that the Minister had publicly apologised for the statements. The CJI observed that it was not a sincere apology.

"Only because the Court took cognizance that you did.. writing a letter is not apology...it is only to make a fake defence...first thing you should have done is to apologise with folded hands...," CJI said. The Solicitor then said, "I think he also came on TV and apologized with folded hands."

"Look into the totality of circumstances and take a decision (on granting sanction)," Justice Bagchi said.

The bench adjourned the matter, asking the State to comply with the earlier direction to decide on granting sanction.

Case Title: KUNWAR VIJAY SHAH Versus THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH AND ORS., SLP(Crl) No. 8449/2025