Madhya Pradesh High Court orders FIR against BJP minister for comments against Colonel Sofia Qureshi

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday initiated a suo motu case against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Kunwar Vijay Shah for his comments targeting Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, the Indian Army officer who had briefed the media about Operation Sindoor against Pakistan..The Division Bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Anuradha Shukla directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to immediately register an FIR against Shah under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).The same must be done by today evening, otherwise the Court will tomorrow proceed under the Contempt of Courts Act against the DGP, it added."I shall take no excuse. Ensure that it is done. Otherwise I can assure you, I promise, the State would face extreme embarrassment and I couldn't care less," Justice Sreedharan told Advocate General Prashant Singh..The Court observed that Shah had used "the language of the gutters" against Colonel Qureshi. "His comments are disparaging and dangerous, not just to the officer in question but to the armed forces itself," it added.Shah referred to Colonel Qureshi as the "sister of the terrorists" who carried out the killings of 26 innocent Indians at Pahalgam, the Court noted..The Court pointed to various provisions of BNS which it prima facie found to have been violated by Shah. In particular, the Court referred to Section 152 of BNS that criminalizes actions that endanger the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India."Prima facie, the statement of the minister that Col. Sofia Quraishi is the sister of the terrorist who carried out the attack at Pahalgam encourages feelings of separatist activities by imputing separatist feeling to anyone who is Muslim, which thereby endangers the sovereignty or unity and integrity of India. Thus, this court is, prima facie, satisfied that the first offence made out against the minister was under Section 152 of the B.N.S," it opined..The statement of the minister that Col. Sofia Quraishi is the sister of the terrorist who carried out the attack at Pahalgam encourages feelings of separatist activities by imputing separatist feeling to anyone who is Muslim.Madhya Pradesh High Court.The Court also said that Section 196 of the BNS that deals with promoting enmity between different groups was prima facie made out in the case as Colonel Qureshi is an adherent of Islam."Prima facie, this section would be applicable as Col. Sofia Quraishi is an adherent of the Muslim faith and deriding her by referring to her as the sister of terrorists may be prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religions groups as it has the propensity to fuel an impression that irrespective of the selfless duties of a person towards India, such a person could still be derided only because that person belongs to the Muslim faith. Therefore, prima facie, this Court is satisfied that the offence under Section 196(1)(b) is also committed."It added that the statement made by Shah prima facie also has the propensity to cause disharmony and feelings of enmity or hatred or ill-will between Muslims and non-Muslims.Thus, the Court said Section 197, which penalizes imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration, is also prima facie made out against Shah.Accordingly, the Court ordered immediate registration of a criminal case against the BJP minister..When AG Prashant Singh sought more time to comply with the order, Justice Sreedharan said there would be "more problems" if the order is not complied with by tomorrow"To enforce the order of this Court, I will bring the hell down, if need be. I will ensure that it is done," Justice Sreedharan said, adding that comments made by the minister are already in the public domain."Just say that we will enforce the order to ensure that neither you nor ... the Court will not embarrassed. Choice is yours. The ball is in your court," the judge added..In response, Singh said that order has been dictated on the basis of news reports which may be interpretation of journalists. At this, the Court said,"We will put the Youtube website links in the order where this man can be speaking venom. Now that you have brought it up, we will add those links to order..."Singh, however, said the investigation agency should be given some time."Register, register right now! There is no tomorrow in such cases. I may not be alive tomorrow," Justice Sreedharan said, adding the State can get the order stayed from the Supreme Court..The Court added that the material is in public domain for everyone to see. When AG said the whole matter can be left to the investigating agency, the Court said,"Let them. First of all register the FIR. If those offences are not made out, file the closure report. But as of now, prima facie, the Court finds these offences have been committed and therefore the FIR must be registered.".The matter will be taken up for hearing on Thursday morning.Advocate General Prashant Singh with Additional Advocate General HS Ruprah and Amit Seth represented the State..[Read Order]