The Supreme Court on Monday rejected BJP Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah's apology for his comments on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.
The apex court termed his comments to be "crocodile tears" while ordering the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the matter. The SIT will include three IPS officers who do not belong to the state of Madhya Pradesh. The court also asserted that one of the members of the investigative team should be a woman.
The court has ordered the Madhya Pradesh DGP to constitute the SIT by 10 AM tomorrow that should be headed by an IGP while the other two members should be of SP rank or above.
The top court deemed his apology as insincere and said that, "We saw your videos, you were on verge of using filthy language."
The SC made the comments while hearing a plea filed by Shah challenging Madhya Pradesh High court's suo motu order for registering an FIR against the minister on May 16. Shah had made remarks calling Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who was a part of the official briefings on Operation Sindoor, as "a sister of terrorists."
While addressing the matter, Justice Surya Kant said that, "The kind of crass comments you made, completely thoughtlessly. What prevented you from making a sincere attempt? We don't require your apology. We know how to deal with as per the law."
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh ordered a stay on the arrest of Shah on the condition that he should join and fully cooperate with the investigation.
The MP High court had issued a suo motu order on May 14 describing Shah's remarks as "dangerous, disparaging and language of the gutters"
