Col Sofiya Qureshi remarks row: Plea in SC seeks removal of MP Minister Vijay Shah

New Delhi, July 23 Congress leader Jaya Thakur has moved a plea before the Supreme Court seeking removal of Madhya Pradesh Tribal Welfare Minister Vijay Shah for his controversial remark against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, the Indian Army officer who briefed the media throughout Operation Sindoor against Pakistan.

As per the writ petition by the Congress leader, Shah, who is the BJP MLA from Harsood Assembly seat, had, by referring to Colonel Qureshi as the “sister of the terrorists”, violated the oath taken under Article 164(3) of the Constitution.

It claimed that the minister's distasteful remarks encouraged "feelings of separatist activities by imputing separatist feeling to anyone who is Muslim, which thereby endangers the sovereignty or unity and integrity of India".

In controversial remarks about Operation Sindoor, Shah had reportedly said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sent a "sister from the same community" as those in Pakistan to avenge the April 22 terror strike in Kashmir's Pahalgam, sparking nationwide outrage.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, in an order passed on May 14, suo moto (on its own cause) had ordered the state Director General of Police to register an FIR against Shah within four hours and warned the top police official of contempt action in case of any delay in compliance.

Challenging the FIR registered under Sections 152, 196(1)(b), and 197 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the BJP leader approached the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the criminal case.

In a partial relief to the MP minister, the apex court protected him from any coercive action, including arrest, subject to the condition that he should join and fully cooperate with the investigation. It had ordered the DGP to form a SIT (Special Investigation Team) of three senior IPS officers of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, including a woman IPS officer, to probe the matter.

However, a bench headed by Justice Surya Kant had then declined to entertain an application filed by Jaya Thakur, who alleged that Shah had breached his constitutional oath by delivering a "hate speech"." Asking her not to "politicise" the issue, the bench, also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, had asked the Congress leader to "avail appropriate independent remedy".

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