'Entire nation in shame': SC orders SIT probe against MP minister over remarks on Col Qureshi
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah for his remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and constituted a three-member special investigation team to probe the FIR lodged against him.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh told the minister that it had seen his videos where he made the remarks and his apology and wondered if “they were crocodile tears or an attempt to wriggle out of the legal proceedings”.
“The entire nation was in shame due to the comments... We saw your videos , you were on the verge of using very filthy language but somehow better sense prevailed or you did not find suitable words. You should be shameful. Entire country is proud of our Army and you made this statement,” Justice Surya Kant said.
The bench further grilled the minister, “What kind of apology was this? You should have simply admitted your mistake and apologised but you say if you have said this and that…then I apologise. This is not the way to seek apology. The kind of crass comments you made, you should be shameful."
Shah was represented by senior advocates Maninder Singh and Vibha Dutt Makhija
The top court asked the Madhya Pradesh director general of police to constitute a three-member special investigation team (SIT) headed by an IG rank officer by Tuesday 10 am also comprising a woman officer to probe the FIR registered following an order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The first state report by the SIT, the bench said, should be filed by May 28.
Being a public representative the minister ought to have led by an example and used every single word sensibly, the court further remarked.
After drawing severe criticism for his comments made on May 12, the BJP minister said he was ready to apologise 10 times if his statement had hurt anyone and he respected Col Qureshi more than his sister.
An FIR was registered against Shah in Indore district later on May 14 following the high court's order.
The FIR was registered under Sections 152 (acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India), 196 (1)(b) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, language, or other similar characteristics) and 197(1)(c) (statement or action that causes or is likely to cause disharmony, enmity, or hatred between different groups) of the BNS.
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Cong performed better in Kerala, anti-incumbency trends influenced WB, TN: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the Congress had largely met or exceeded expectations in several States, even as results in some regions reflected shifting voter sentiments.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said the party accepted the mandate in Assam while performing better than anticipated in Kerala.
He also pointed to possible anti-incumbency trends influencing outcomes in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
“In Assam, we got the expected result, and we accept the people’s mandate. In Kerala, we have won more seats than expected. We anticipated around 76 to 80, but we have gone up to around 95,” Siddaramaiah said.
In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, there may have been an anti-incumbency trend, and that could have influenced the results, he added.
Siddaramaiah also extended his congratulations to a new political entrant in Tamil Nadu, noting the emergence of a different electoral dynamic in the State.
“I congratulate the new entrant who has achieved success there,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said electoral outcomes in some States had diverged from the party’s internal assessments, reflecting evolving voter expectations.
“We expected a certain trend, but the results have been different. Political reading was wrong in some places,” he said.
“People were looking for change in some States, and that has been reflected in the results,” Shivakumar, who is also the Congress Karnataka unit president, said.
Referring to Kerala, he said the Congress-led alliance had benefited from public sentiment.
“There was already an expectation based on local body elections, and people had shown confidence in us. That has translated into a strong result,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
On Tamil Nadu, he acknowledged that the scale of political shift had come as a surprise.
“We expected to secure around 30 to 40 per cent of the vote share, but such a major shift was not anticipated. It shows that voter expectations were different,” he said.
Shivakumar added that electoral outcomes underscored the need for better political assessment in future.
“We have to understand these changes carefully. Political reading cannot go wrong like this,” he said.
