The Supreme Court on Monday ticked off the Madhya Pradesh government for its failure to grant sanction for the prosecution of tribal welfare minister Kunwar Vijay Shah for his controversial remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi during Operation Sindoor.
Shah had remarked that India had sent "their (Pakistan’s) sister" in response to the Pahalgam massacre in which 26 people were killed last year.
"You have been sitting over the SIT report since August 19, 2025. It is now January 19, 2026," Chief Justice Surya Kant told the counsel appearing for Madhya Pradesh.
The bench, which also had Justices Dipankar Datta and Joymalya Bagchi, directed the state to take a call in two weeks on the question of sanction in accordance with law after the counsel pleaded that the action had been delayed since the matter was pending before the top court.
"We are informed that no action has been taken by the state since the matter is pending. We direct the state of Madhya Pradesh to take appropriate steps for sanction in terms of law," the bench said.
Although senior counsel Maninder Singh, appearing for Shah, said the matter should be given a quietus since the minister had apologised, the CJI brushed it aside, saying: "It is too late to tender an apology. We had earlier commented on what kind of apology was submitted."
The bench passed the direction after going through the final report submitted by the SIT constituted on the orders of the top court to probe the allegations against Shah.
On May 16, 2025, the Supreme Court transferred to itself the suo motu proceedings initiated by Madhya Pradesh High Court and had sought a further status report from the SIT on the probe relating to the allegations against the BJP leader.
A bench of Justice Kant and Justice Datta had passed the order while taking on record an interim status report submitted by the deputy inspector-general of police, Special Armed Forces.
At that time, the apex court had orally observed that "the entire nation is ashamed" of Shah for his controversial remarks against Colonel Qureshi, but had stayed his arrest subject to his cooperation with the police on the FIR registered against him.
The court had issued the directive after coming down heavily on the BJP minister and refused to accept his apology, saying it was intended to wriggle out of the crisis.