May 15, 2025 – The Supreme Court (SC) has slammed Madhya Pradesh (MP) Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah for his controversial remarks indirectly hinted at Indian Army officer Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and ordered him to apologise in the High Court for his comments which it described as insensitive and unacceptable.

"What sort of comments are you making? You should show some sense of sensibility. Go and apologise in High Court," Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai rapped the Minister.

"Nothing will happen to you in a day. You know who you are," the Supreme Court added while refusing Shah’s plea for interim protection from arrest.

SC was hearing a petition filed by Shah against Madhya Pradesh High Court’s suo motu ruling of FIR against him on May 14 for his questionable comments against an Army officer. The High Court in Jabalpur had issued a strongly worded order to the State's Director General of Police to register an FIR against the Minister by that evening with the warning that failure to comply would result in contempt proceedings.

The matter goes back to May 12 when at a public event in Raikunda village in Indore, Shah, who is a Tribal Welfare Minister of MP, had made comments indirectly directed at Colonel Qureshi which was widely perceived as derogatory, communal and gendered and he came in for heavy criticism for it.

Talking of Operation Sindoor, the BJP Minister claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "sent their (terrorists') sister" (in a veiled reference to Colonel Qureshi) aboard a military aircraft to retaliate against those responsible.

"They (terrorists) made our sisters widows, so Modi ji sent a sister of their community to strip them and teach them a lesson," Shah had said. "They undressed our Hindu brothers before killing them. We responded by sending their own sister to hit them in their houses."

MP High Court ruled that the remarks by Shah constituted offences under Indian law and posed a serious threat to communal harmony. It described his remarks as “disparaging,” “dangerous,” and “language of the gutters” not merely targeting the officer in question, but denigrating the Armed Forces as a whole.

The FIR is to be filed with immediate effect under BNS Sections 152 (acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India), 196(1)(b) (promoting enimity on grounds of religion), and 197(a)(c) (outraging modesty or character of a woman through speech).  

The remarks have drawn widespread criticism from the all quarters across the country including the Opposition, military veterans and even some members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Colonel Qureshi has become a popular public figure after she appeared at regular national media briefings on Operation Sindoor alongside Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.