The Supreme Court today questioned the explanation offered by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta regarding controversial remarks made by Kunwar Vijay Shah against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who had briefed the media during Operation Sindoor. The Court also questioned the State of Madhya Pradesh over delay in deciding whether sanction should be granted to prosecute the Minister under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing Kunwar Vijay Shah’s plea challenging the suo motu directions of the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordering registration of an FIR over his remarks.

During the hearing, the Solicitor General submitted that Shah’s statements were “unfortunate” and suggested that the Minister had intended to praise Colonel Qureshi but failed to express himself properly. “He wanted to praise the lady. But he could not articulate himself,” SG Tushar Mehta submitted.

The Court, however, did not agree with the explanation. Chief Justice Kant observed that “It was not unfortunate. It was most unfortunate.”

Rejecting the “misarticulation” argument, the Chief Justice further remarked: “As a politician, he knows how to articulately praise the lady officer.”

Justice Joymalya Bagchi also referred to the SIT status report and observed that Shah appeared to be “in the habit of making such statements.”

The controversy arose after Shah allegedly stated during a public event: “Those who widowed our daughters, we sent a sister of their own to teach them a lesson.”

The statement was widely criticised as a veiled communal reference to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who became one of the public faces of Operation Sindoor after briefing the media on India’s military response following the Pahalgam terror attack.

The Supreme Court had earlier refused to stay the FIR against Shah, constituted a Special Investigation Team to investigate the matter and protected him from arrest while the probe continued.