New Delhi/Bhopal
The Supreme Court on Friday scheduled a hearing for May 19 on the plea filed by Madhya Pradesh Tribal Affairs Minister Vijay Shah. The Minister has moved the apex court challenging the Madhya Pradesh High Court order directing the registration of an FIR against him over his “disparaging and dangerous” remarks made against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, one of the faces of Operation Sindoor.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh deferred the matter after senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Shah, requested more time.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court came down hard on Shah for his controversial remarks directed at Qureshi. At a public event, Shah had called Colonel Qureshi a “sister of terrorists”.
Presiding over a two-judge bench, Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, said: “A person holding such a public office is expected to uphold certain standards. Every sentence uttered by a minister has to be with responsibility. Such a person holding a constitutional office should be responsible. When this country is going through such a situation… just because you are a minister…”
Shah approached the Supreme Court challenging the May 14 order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which directed the registration of an FIR against him.
The apex court refused immediate intervention in the matter but finally agreed to hear it on Friday on the insistence of Shah’s counsel senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija, who contended that Shah Makhija said Shah had apologised for the remarks. The SC asked Shah to go and apologise in the HC.
For its part, the Madhya Pradesh High Court too on Thursday slammed the police over the FIR registered against Shah terming it “gross subterfuge” on the State government’s part. The court said the police must include comprehensive details of the alleged offences in the FIR, and it must be aligned with its Wednesday’s order. It said it will monitor the case without interfering in the investigation and posted it for hearing on June 16.
The division bench of Justices Atul Shreedharan and Anuradha noted that the FIR in its present form was vulnerable to being quashed if challenged. The FIR copy was placed before them to show compliance with the previous order. “This is gross subterfuge on the part of the State. The FIR has been drawn in a manner so as to assist the suspect, Vijay Shah, to be able to have the FIR quashed on a later date,” the order read.
At this juncture, the court desists from trying to find out who was responsible in the chain of command of the State police for this “clumsy attempt,” the bench said adding this court shall endeavour to find out the same in future proceedings.
A delegation of Madhya Pradesh Congress leaders, meanwhile, met Governor Mangubhai Patel at Raj Bhavan in Bhopal demanding Shah’s dismissal. As the Congress leaders also staged a demonstration they were forcibly evicted.
