SC orders SIT probe into BJP MLA’s remarks about Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, rejects apology

NEW DELHI: Rejecting the apology by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah for his remarks purportedly targeting Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team to look into the matter, reported Bar and Bench.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh stayed Shah’s arrest and ordered him to join the investigation, according to The Indian Express.“We are constituting a SIT with three IPS (three Indian Police Service) officers and one should be the rank of IG (Inspector General of Police) or DGP (Director General of Police) rank,” Bar and Bench quoted the bench as saying. “All of them should be (from) outside the state. It is a litmus test and we want the state to submit the SIT report to us. We would like to have a very close watch.”

One of the three Indian Police Service officers in the team should be a woman, the bench added. It ordered the director general of police to constitute the SIT by 10 am on Tuesday.The matter pertains to remarks made by the BJP leader at an event in Mahu on May 13.

Shah had said that those who had widowed the daughters of India had been taught a lesson by Prime Minister Narendra Modi “by sending the sister from their own community”. He repeated the remark immediately after saying it the first time.

While the BJP leader did not name a person, Opposition parties had alleged that the minister was alluding to Qureshi, one of the official spokespersons during the foreign ministry and defence ministry’s media briefings relating to Operation Sindoor.

On May 14, the Madhya Pradesh High Court took suo motu cognisance of the matter and ordered the registration of a case against Shah. The High Court also observed that Shah’s remarks referred to “none other but” Qureshi.

The BJP leader subsequently moved the Supreme Court.On May 13, Shah apologised and said that his remark should not be viewed “in a different context”.“I want to tell people that my speech is not in that context,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying. “They are our sisters, and they have taken revenge with great strength along with the armed forces.”