Col Sofiya Qureshi Remark: High Court Tears Into 'Deficient' FIR Against BJP Minister Vijay Shah, Calls It 'Gross Subterfuge' By State

In its order uploaded on Thursday evening, the Madhya Pradesh High Court said that the FIR registered by the State police against BJP state minister Kunwar Vijay Shah for his remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi is 'deficient' on the actions which constitute the offences lodged against him, and the same amounts to 'gross subterfuge' by State.

In a strongly worded order, the court further said that the FIR had been drawn in a manner so as to assist Shah in being able to quash the FIR at a later date.

A division bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Anuradha Shukla in its order said:

"This FIR has been registered in such a manner leaving sufficient space open so that if it is challenged under erstwhile section 482 of Cr.P.C (section 528 BNSS), the same may be quashed because it is deficient in material particulars of the actions which constitutes each of the specific offences. This is gross subterfuge on the part of the of theState. The FIR has been drawn in a manner so as to assist the suspect Mr. Vijay Shah to be able to have the FIR quashed on a later date". 

The bench however said that at this juncture it is desisting from embarking on a journey to find out "as to who was responsible in the chain of command of the State police for this clumsy attempt", adding that it shall do this "endeavour" in future proceedings. 

"However, in order to ensure that said subterfuge is nipped in the bud, this Court directs that the entire order of 14.05.2025 shall be read as part of paragraph 12 of the FIR for all judicial, quasi judicial and investigating process henceforth," the court said. 

The court further said that it is compelled to monitor the probe to ensure that the police investigates the case fairly without getting influenced by any extraneous pressures.

On Wednesday the high court had directed the state's Director General of Police to lodge an FIR against the state BJP Minister after taking a serious objection to the minister's remarks describing it as "disparaging", "dangerous", and "language of the gutters"–not merely targeting the officer in question, but denigrating the armed forces as a whole. It further observed that, prima facie, offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, are made out against the Minister.

Colonel Sofiya Qureshi had become the face of the 'Operation Sindoor' after she gave press briefings about the military operations carried out by the Indian Air Force against Pakistani terrorist sites.

Vijay Shah courted controversy by saying, "Jinhone humari betiyon ke sindoor ujade the… humne unhiki behen bhej kar ke unki aisi ki taisi karwayi" [Translation: Those people (terrorists) who had wiped out the sindoor (vermilion) of our sisters (in the Pahalgam terror attack)... we avenged these people by sending their sister to destroy them. He later took to social media and issued a public apology.

Case title: Suo Motu v/s State of Madhya Pradesh

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