A day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor, the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, suggested to the Supreme Court that perhaps a lenient view can be taken towards Madhya Pradesh Minister Vijay Shah in relation to the criminal case against him over his derogatory remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi. Mehta argued that the Shah actually intended to praise Qureshi but ended up saying something else as he could not articulate his comments properly.
‘Not defending Shah’: SG
The Solicitor General, however, clarified that he was not defending Shah’s remarks, adding that it was his personal view and not the stand of the Madhya Pradesh government, which was directed by the top court in January to take a call on granting sanction to prosecute the Minister within two months. The hearing was conducted by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
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“What he said was definitely unfortunate. He wanted to say something…” said Mehta as quoted by Live Law. The remarks were made during the hearing of the petition filed by Shah challenging the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s suo motu direction issued in May 2025 to register an FIR against him for allegedly describing Colonel Qureshi as “a sister of the terrorists.”
Court questions intent
At this point, the CJI said, “It was most unfortunate, and then he has no sense of repentance.”
“He possibly, I am not defending him, this is my view, not the view of the Government. Possibly he wanted to praise the lady, he could not articulate properly, but he ended up saying something,” responded the Solicitor General.
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However, the argument did not convince the CJI, who pointed out that politicians were mostly articulate. “Political personalities are very articulate; they say what they want to. If it were a slip of tongue, he would have immediately apologised,” added the CJI.
SIT report cited
Justice Bagchi, referring to the SIT report on the case, stated: “The man is in the habit of making such statements.”
When senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Shah, argued that the Minister had publicly apologised for the statements, the CJI stated that the apology was not sincere.
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“Only because the Court took cognisance that you did.. writing a letter is not apology…it is only to make a fake defence…first thing you should have done is to apologise with folded hands…,” CJI said.
Bench seeks decision
At this point, the Solicitor General said, “I think he also came on TV and apologised with folded hands.”
“Look into the totality of circumstances and take a decision (on granting sanction),” responded Justice Bagchi. The bench then adjourned the hearing, instructing Madhya Pradesh government to comply with the earlier direction to decide on granting sanction
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