Bhopal: Taking suo motu cognisance of Madhya Pradesh tribal affairs minister Vijay Shah’s controversial remarks targeting Col Sofia Qureshi, the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur on Wednesday ordered registration of an FIR against BJP leader.
The minister triggered a controversy on May 12 at a function in Mhow in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district after he said that terrorists had killed Hindus in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir and made their wives widows. Prime Minister Narendra Modi taught a lesson to the terrorists by “using their own sister” (apparently referring to Col. Qureshi, who briefed the media when Operation Sindoor was underway).
A division bench of the High Court comprising Justice Atul Shridharan and Justice Anuradha Shukla ordered the Director-General of Madhya Pradesh police to file the FIR against the minister by 6 pm on Wednesday. The bench also issued a direction to inform the court about the registration of the FIR.
The bench said that the DGP will be booked for contempt of court if the FIR was not filed against Shah by the said time. The court fixed May 15 the next date of hearing in the case.
Prima facie, it appears from Shah’s statement that a case was made out against him under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The court ordered to book the minister under Sections 152 (criminalising any act that endangers the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India), 196(1)(B) (promoting enmity between groups based on religion, race, language, etc.) and 197(1)(C) (making or publishing any assertions that a group of people can’t be faithful to the Constitution of India due to their religion, etc.) of BNS.
The development may land Shah in trouble, sources in the ruling BJP said here.
His remarks drew widespread condemnation from different quarters, with Congress demanding his dismissal from the ministry.
After drawing severe condemnation, Shah on Wednesday said he is ready to apologise 10 times for his remarks and he “respects Col. Qureshi more than his sister”.
Notwithstanding, the Opposition Congress on Wednesday launched a statewide stir demanding Shah’s removal from the ministry. Some of the Congress leaders were seen blackening the nameplate in his official residence here.
In another development, a councillor in Indore Municipal Corporation and Congress leader Jasaswi Patidar announced a reward of `51,000 for blackening the minister’s face for making “insulting comments against a woman”.
Patidar said Col. Qureshi’s three generations have been providing security to our country and she became a part of Operation Sindoor by making media briefings on it.
