‘Enough is enough’: Supreme Court questions delay in sanction to prosecute Kunwar Vij
‘Enough is enough’: Supreme Court questions delay in sanction to prosecute Kunwar Vijay Shah over remarks on Col Sofiya Qureshi
M.U.H
08/05/202627
The Supreme Court Friday asked the Madhya Pradesh Government to decide on granting sanction to prosecute Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah in connection with his alleged defamatory remarks about Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who gained nationwide prominence during the media briefings on Operation Sindoor last year.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi refused to accept Shah’s submission that he had apologised and asked the state to take a decision on the sanction and report compliance in 4 weeks.
“Please make a decision…Enough is enough now. And report compliance within 4 weeks,” the court said.
In January this year, the apex court asked the state to decide the sanction issue within 2 weeks.
On Friday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged the bench to grant some more time for this. Mehta said he was not defending the minister, but it seemed he wanted to say something else.
“What he said was definitely unfortunate. I am not defending him; this is my view, not the government’s. Possibly, he wanted to praise the lady; he could not articulate properly, but he ended up saying something,” Mehta said.
Disagreeing, the CJI said, “Political personalities are very articulate. They say what they want to. If it were a slip of tongue, he would have immediately apologised.”
The court referred to a report by the Special Investigation Team constituted on its direction and said that according to it, “the man is in the habit of making such statements.”
Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Shah, said he had issued an apology the very next day and also furnished it to the press.
But the CJI said, “It is only because we have taken cognisance (that he apologised). Writing a letter is not an apology. It is only creating a fake defence…. The first thing he should have done was say, I have committed a mistake. I tender an unconditional apology for it… As if you are above the law.”
Singh pointed out that the apology was already placed before the bench by the time it took cognisance of the matter. “It took place on May 12, and on May 13 the apology came,” he said.
“I think he also came on a television and apologised with folded hands,” added Mehta.
Justice Bagchi said, “Let the state look into the totality of the circumstances and take a decision.”
On May 12, 2025, Shah said at an event in Mau that India taught a lesson to those responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack using “their own sister”. While he did not name any individual, the Congress alleged he was alluding to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.
Shah later sought to clarify the remarks, saying, “Do not see my speech in a different context. I want to tell people that my speech is not in that context. They are our sisters, and they have taken revenge with great strength along with the armed forces.”
Shah’s alleged remarks sparked widespread outrage, after which the Madhya Pradesh High Court took suo motu cognisance and ordered an FIR to be registered against him. He had challenged that before the Supreme Court.
On May 19, the Supreme Court appointed a three-member SIT to probe the matter. The SIT sought sanction to prosecute him under Section 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (promotion of communal hatred and ill-will).
