MP Minister Vijay Shah: ” Ministr’s comments have shamed the nation”SC
NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court has rejected the apology of Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah, who made a controversial statement on Indian Army’s respected officer Colonel Sophia Qureshi. The apex court has ordered the formation of an SIT to investigate the case filed against Shah.
The court has said that this SIT of 3 senior IPS officers should give it the first status report on May 28. During the hearing, the judges reprimanded Vijay Shah.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court had taken suo motu cognizance of Vijay Shah’s controversial statement on Colonel Sophia Qureshi, who played the role of spokesperson on behalf of the army during Operation Sindoor. The High Court had ordered an FIR to be registered against the minister. Senior advocate Maninder Singh appeared on behalf of Shah, who had approached the Supreme Court seeking relief from this order. He told the judges that Vijay Shah has apologized for the statement. The bench of Justice Surya Kant and N Kotishwar Singh was not convinced by this. The bench said that many people apologize and shed crocodile tears to escape the law.
The Supreme Court questioned Vijay Shah’s apology and said that if he had regretted it, he would not have expressed regret by using ifs and buts. Pointing to Shah still being a minister, the court said, “It does not seem that he is really ashamed of his statement. The whole country is angry about his statement. Many days have passed since this statement. The post of a minister has a dignity. The conduct of a minister should be ideal for the society.”
Justice Surya Kant said that he has seen the video of the petitioner’s speech. He did not show any responsibility while giving the speech. At one place in the speech, he was about to use very rude language. Perhaps he found a better word or some intelligence awakened, so at least he did not use that word. Still, what he has said is not such that it can be brushed off on the basis of a pretentious apology.
After this, the court ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT). Justice Surya Kant said, “We are ordering the formation of an SIT of 3 senior IPS officers. The DGP of Madhya Pradesh should form it by 10 am on May 20. The three IPS officers of the SIT may be from Madhya Pradesh cadre, but they should not be originally from Madhya Pradesh. The investigation team should be led by an IG rank officer. There should also be a woman officer in this team.” It is known that the suo motu petition is being heard in Jabalpur High Court. The hearing is going on in the bench of Justice Atul Shridhar and Justice Anuradha Shukla.
