MP HC calls FIR against minister Vijay Shah ‘gross subterfuge’, asks police to include details

In its present form, the First Information Report is vulnerable to being quashed if challenged, noted a division bench of Justices Atul Shreedharan and Anuradha Shukla when it was placed before them to show compliance with the previous order.

Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday slammed the police over the FIR registered against minister Vijay Shah concerning his objectionable remarks about Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, terming it “gross subterfuge” on the state's part.

The court said the police must include comprehensive details of the alleged offences in the First Information Report, and it must be aligned with Wednesday’s order of the HC.

The HC said it will monitor the case without interfering in the investigation and post it for hearing on June 16.

In its present form, the FIR is vulnerable to being quashed if challenged, noted a division bench of Justices Atul Shreedharan and Anuradha Shukla when it was placed before them to show compliance with the previous order.

“This is gross subterfuge on the part of the State. 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 order read.

At this juncture, the court desists from trying to find out who was responsible in the chain of command of the state police for this “clumsy attempt,” the bench said. This court shall endeavour to find out the same in future proceedings, it said.

The nature of the case and how the FIR has been registered do not inspire confidence of the court, said the judges. The court is of the opinion the police won’t investigate the case fairly in the interest of justice if it is not duly monitored, said the bench.

“Under the circumstances, this Court feels compelled to ensure that it monitors the investigation without interfering in the independence of the investigating agency but only to the extent of monitoring that it acts fairly in accordance with law without being influenced by any extraneous pressures or directions,” the HC said.

The court’s observations came even as Shah, the tribal affairs minister, moved the Supreme Court against the HC directive to register an FIR against him. The apex court will be hearing his plea on Friday.

On Wednesday, the high court had taken suo motu cognisance of the minister's controversial statements.

The FIR was accordingly registered against Shah in Indore district on Wednesday night under sections 152 (act endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India), 196(1)(B) (act adversely affecting mutual harmony between communities, likely to cause public unrest), and 197(1)(C) (statement targeting a member of a community with adverse effects on communal harmony) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Colonel Qureshi came into the spotlight for regularly holding press briefings alongside Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh regarding 'Operation Sindoor', a military operation conducted last week by Indian armed forces targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK).