'Face consequence': SC rejects MP Minister Vijay Shah's apology, orders probe into Colonel Qureshi remark

The Supreme Court rejected MP Minister Vijay Shah's apology for his remark against Army officer Col Sofiya Qureshi, calling it insincere. It ordered a special probe and said his words brought shame to the nation. 

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The Supreme Court on Monday strongly criticised Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah for his controversial and offensive comment against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, a senior woman officer in the Indian Army. 

SC rapped the MP minister on remarks against Col Sofiya Qureshi, saying, “We saw your videos, you were on verge of using filthy language.”

“Being public representative you should use every single word sensibly,” the top court scolded the minister over his remarks against Qureshi.

The court refused to accept his apology, calling it insincere and meaningless, and ordered a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the matter.

The SIT will include at least one woman officer of SP rank, and the first status report must be submitted by May 28, the court said.

A bench led by Justice Surya Kant said Shah's statement brought shame to the nation. The judge said, “What kind of apology have you given? Sometimes people use soft language only to escape punishment.”

The court added, “You want to make it look like the court asked you to apologise. Why didn’t you issue a real apology for such a crass comment earlier?

SC told the minister that it had seen his videos where he made the remarks and his apology and wondered if ‘they were crocodile tears or an attempt to wriggle out of the legal proceedings’.

“The entire nation was in shame due to the comments... We saw your videos , you were on the verge of using very filthy language but somehow better sense prevailed or you did not find suitable words. You should be shameful. Entire country is proud of our Army and you made this statement,” Justice Surya Kant said.

What Vijay Shah said

Vijay Shah had made the remark shortly after Operation Sindoor, in which India carried out strikes on terror camps across the border. Without naming Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, he had said that a woman from the "same community as Pakistan" was sent to "strip the country naked." The statement was widely seen as targeting Col Qureshi, who had been part of military briefings during the operation.

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After drawing severe criticism for his comments made on May 12, the BJP minister said he was ready to apologise 10 times if his statement had hurt anyone and he respected Col Qureshi more than his sister.

An FIR was registered against Shah in Indore district later on May 14 following the high court's order.

The FIR was registered under Sections 152 (acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India), 196 (1)(b) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, language, or other similar characteristics) and 197(1)(c) (statement or action that causes or is likely to cause disharmony, enmity, or hatred between different groups) of the BNS.

His comment triggered widespread outrage. Military veterans, opposition leaders, and even some members of the BJP criticised Shah. The Madhya Pradesh High Court earlier took suo motu notice of the issue and said Shah used the “language of the gutters.” It had directed police to file an FIR against him.

The Supreme Court has now taken the matter further, demanding accountability and a proper investigation. It also questioned the Madhya Pradesh government on what action had been taken so far and asked the police to share the status of the case.