New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday again pulled up Madhya Pradesh minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Shah for his controversial remarks on Indian Army officer Sofiya Qureshi in the wake of Operation Sindoor carried out by the Indian Armed Forces. The SC also rejected Shah's apology over his distasteful remarks. The top court said that no sincere apology was given by the minister.
"Where is that apology? What is that apology? What kind of apology have you tendered? There is some meaning of apology! Sometimes people use docile language only to wriggle out of proceeding! And sometimes they shed crocodile tears! What kind of apology is yours?" Justice Surya Kant said, as quoted by NDTV.
Justice Kant also said that Sha's made "crass" remarks thoughtlessly. .“The entire nation is shamed by the minister’s statement,” the apex court said as quoted by The Times of India.
Vijay Shah's Remarks:
The SC also constituted an SIT into the matter. As per Live Law, the SIT should be headed by an IGP and its members should be of the SP rank or above.
Meanwhile, the top court stayed the arrest of Vijay Shah in the FIR, which was registered after the High Court took sou motu cognisance of the matter. A bench of Justices Kant and N Kotiswar Singh heard Shah's two petitions.
One of the petitions was reportedly challenged Madhya Pradesh High Court's suo motu order for registration of an FIR against him.
Meanwhile, another petition was filed against the High Court order of May 15, where the bench concerned expressed dissatisfaction with the FIR registered against Shah.
The matter was scheduled for hearing on May 28.
Last week, Shah had referred Col Qureshi as the “sister of terrorists”. It sparked outrage.
Earlier on Thursday, the top court refused to stay the Madhya Pradesh High Court's directive to initiate criminal proceedings against him. The top court had asked the MP minister to apologise to the Indian Army officer.
For the unversed, Colonel Qureshi, along with Air Force officer Vyomika Singh, was entrusted with briefing the media on Operation Sindoor, a meticulously planned military response to the terrorist massacre in Kashmir on April 22.
