The Supreme Court on Friday suspended Madhya Pradesh Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah over his statements against Colonel Sophia Qureshi during Operation Sindoor, terming them “deeply regrettable” and “without remorse”, and ordered the state government to clarify its stand on awarding the sanction within two weeks.
The court indicated that on January 19, it requested the state to take a decision to grant an investigation penalty in the criminal case filed against the minister.
The state informed the court on Friday that a decision in this regard is still pending. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represents the state, said: “What he said was unfortunate. Although I am not defending him, it is possible that he wanted to praise the officer. This may be a possible point of view. He could not express it properly and later apologized for it.”
“What he said was very unfortunate and he had no sense of remorse,” Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalia Bagchi said.
The CJI refused to accept Mehta’s suggestion and said, “We know political figures when they have to praise someone, what words they use. If he felt at all that it was wrong, he should have apologised.”
The court further noted that his behavior after making the statement was also noteworthy as he did not apologise.
Shah came under fire for his remarks made during a public speech in Indore, where he referred to Colonel Qureshi by saying: “Those who have widowed our daughters, we have sent a sister to teach them a lesson.” The court took serious note of the timing of the statement which was issued immediately after Operation Sindoor, the Indian military strike on terrorist targets in Pakistan last year.
The court told Mehta that this was not just a one-time case, as it had referred it to the special investigation team it had formed, which had noted other similar statements by the same minister.
“Let the state abide by our order of January 19,” the court said, publishing the order two weeks later. “The state may consider the totality of the circumstances and make a decision.”
Shah was represented in court by senior advocate Maninder Singh, who explained that the statement was issued on May 12 last year, and that on May 13 he was on national television offering an apology. He pointed out that Shah wrote a letter and published it in the public domain explaining his statements.
“Writing a letter is not an apology, but a fake defence. He should have given it on the front page (of the newspaper). This is the first thing he should have said – that I am making an apology. Let the state now take a call,” the bench observed.
Mehta told the court that he would issue instructions to the government and sought a week’s time to decide on the punishment.
The special court had informed the court in January that its request to impose sanctions on the minister was pending with the state government since August 2025. The court then gave the state two weeks to take a final decision.
The SIT report, prepared by a three-member team comprising senior officials of MP Police, said the punishment was required as a precondition under Section 217(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Samhita, 2023 (BNSS), for the trial court to take cognizance of the crimes committed against him. This punishment is required when the offenses to be prosecuted include hate speech, assertions aimed at promoting hostility and acts prejudicial to national integrity punishable under Sections 196 and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The SIT report also pointed to previous instances where the same minister had made controversial statements. The bench cited this part in its order and said: “We would like the SIT to make every effort to trace the details of those cases attributed to the petitioner (Shah). A report on those cases will also be submitted to this court.”
The court had reminded the state that the case had already suffered significant delay as the investigation was completed on August 13, 2025, the day the special court submitted its report to the government seeking sanctions.
In May last year, the court said that Shah’s comments were offensive not only to the officer in question but also to the institution of the armed forces. She said the entire nation was ashamed of the minister’s conduct and wondered why the state had not taken any meaningful action in the wake of the Supreme Court MP’s order to register an FIR.
