The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Madhya Pradesh government to take a decision within two weeks on granting sanction to prosecute state minister and BJP leader Kunwar Vijay Shah for his alleged objectionable remark referring to Indian Army officer Colonel Sofiya Qureshi as 'sister of terrorists' in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.
This came after the bench was apprised that the state government had not taken any decision on the request for sanction, citing the pendency of the matter before the Supreme Court. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiring into Shah's alleged statement has completed its probe and submitted its final report to the state government.
During the course of the hearing on Monday, senior lawyer Maninder Singh, appearing for Vijay Shah, submitted to the top court that he had placed an apology on record and was fully cooperating with the inquiry. But the top court was not satisfied.
"It is too late to tender any apology in the case. We are in 2026," said a three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and including Justices Dipankar Datta and Joymalya Bagchi.
The court said the state must file a status report before the next hearing.
The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by Shah challenging the Madhya Pradesh HC's suo motu order for registration of an FIR against him over his alleged remark against Colonel Qureshi.
Shah made the alleged remark at a public programme in Raikunda village in Indore district on May 12 last year. Following this, the FIR was filed against him under Sections 152, 196(1)(b), and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Following the top court's order on May 19, the Madhya Pradesh DGP constituted the SIT, comprising IG, Sagar Range, Pramod Verma, DIG, SAF, Kalyan Chakraborty and Dindori SP Vahini Singh.
Earlier, in the hearing on May 19, the top court pulled up Shah for his alleged remark on Colonel Qureshi and constituted a three-member special investigation team to probe the FIR lodged against him in the matter, terming his statements as "shame."
On May 14, the Madhya Pradesh HC had -- taking suo motu cognisance of his comments in the matter -- strongly objected to Shah's comment and ordered the police to register an FIR against him. Following the order of the HC, an FIR was registered against Shah.
The controversy came to light after a video clip of Shah's speech went viral on social media. In his clarification, Shah said his comments were taken out of context and were meant to praise Colonel Qureshi's bravery.