The Supreme Court is not pleased with the "apology" Madhya Pradesh Minister Vijay Shah rendered over his defamatory remarks against Indian Army Colonel Sofiya Qureshi. The top court directed the SIT probing the case to file a probe status report by August 13.
Hearing the matter, the apex court rapped the Bharatiya Janata Party minister for not issuing a public apology for his alleged defamatory remarks against the Army officer who briefed the nation on the Army's actions during Operation Sindoor. Saying the Bharatiya Janata Party minister is "testing patience" of the court, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said the minister's conduct was making the court doubt his intentions and bonafide.
The bench made the observations while Shah's lawyer, K. Parmeshwar, apprised the Court that an apology has been issued online. The lawyer said the apology would be placed on record during the next hearing.
Inquiring the status of the probe against the minister with a member of the SIT, the bench directed the SIT to submit a status report by August 13. The top court noted 87 people were examined by the probe team, which was currently examining the statements.
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The bench directed the three-member team constituted on directions of the apex court to "take investigation to a logical conclusion before expiry of statutory limit of 90 days". The bench will next hear the case on August 18.
The BJP minister came under fire after a video, which was circulated widely, showed him allegedly making objectionable remarks against Col Qureshi in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor. While hearing the matter, the Madhya Pradesh High Court said Shah used "language of gutters" against the Army officer.
