The Supreme Court has instructed the Madhya Pradesh government to make a decision within two weeks regarding granting permission to prosecute Tribal Affairs Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah for his controversial comments about Indian Army officer Colonel Sofiya Qureshi. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant expressed dissatisfaction with the state government’s delay in responding to the Special Investigation Team’s request for prosecution sanction.
During the court session, it was revealed that the investigation team had requested the Madhya Pradesh government’s approval to prosecute Shah after examining various aspects. The state government cited the matter being sub judice before the Supreme Court as the reason for not acting on the SIT’s request. The CJI Kant-led Bench directed the state to take necessary steps for sanction as per the law.
The Bench also acknowledged the SIT’s mention of other instances where Shah allegedly made offensive remarks and requested a report on the proposed actions for those instances. Despite Shah’s claim of apologizing and cooperating with the investigation, the Bench dismissed the submission, stating that there was no record of an apology and it was too late. The Supreme Court had previously criticized an “online apology” by Shah, likening it to insincere attempts to evade legal consequences.
