Crime Today News
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising three senior IPS officers, not below the rank of SP and not belonging to the State of Madhya Pradesh, to probe the FIR lodged against BJP Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah over his controversial remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi.
The Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh ordered the Madhya Pradesh DGP to constitute the SIT, to be headed by an IGP and comprising at least one woman officer, by 10 am tomorrow.
Reprimanding Shah for his ‘crass, filthy, thoughtless and shameful’ remarks, the Bench orally asked the BJP Minister to ‘redeem’ himself. Noting that the entire nation was ashamed of Shah’s comments, the Court said the country firmly believed in the rule of law.
Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh contended that Shah had publicly apologised for his remarks. The Bench, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the apology, stating that sometimes people apologised to wriggle out of legal liabilities. Some shed crocodile tears.
Rejecting the apology, the Apex Court said knew how to deal with the situation as per the law.
The Bench observed that the BJP Minister was not even ready to take responsibility. Calling him a public figure and a seasoned politician, the Bench said he should have weighed his words before speaking.
It further said the video of Shah’s speech should be displayed in public since the media had not gone into depth of the video. Calling it an important issue for the Armed Forces, the Court told Shah to act responsibly.
The Bench, however, stayed his arrest in the FIR, subject to the condition that he joined and cooperated with the investigation fully.
The Apex Court passed the order on two petitions filed by Shah. While the first plea challenged the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order directing suo motu registration of an FIR against him over his reference to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi as a ‘sister of terrorists,’ the second challenged the High Court order of May 15, wherein the Bench concerned expressed dissatisfaction with the FIR registered against Shah and said that it would monitor the probe to ensure the investigation was done in a fair manner.
This article first appeared on India Legal
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