![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.bhaskarassets.com\/web2images\/1884\/2026\/08\/25\/dbgifmagic-741787627968_1787647545.gif\")
<\/picture><\/div>\nThe Madhya Pradesh Cabinet did not discuss the proposal seeking sanction to prosecute Tribal Affairs Minister Vijay Shah over his controversial remarks about Colonel Sofia Qureshi during its meeting on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The proposal was being prepared for consideration by the Cabinet, but it was stopped at the final stage and was not included in the publicly listed agenda.<\/p>\n The state government is now likely to present its stand through an affidavit before the Supreme Court during the August 31 hearing. The Cabinet may subsequently ratify the decision.<\/p>\n The matter has been pending for nearly a year. The Supreme Court has already directed the state government to take a decision on the prosecution sanction. Attention is now focused on the government’s next step before the August 31 hearing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What was the proposal?<\/strong><\/p>\n The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has sought permission to prosecute Shah under Section 196(1)(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).<\/p>\n Since Shah is a minister, the prosecution sanction was pending with the state government. The proposal was expected to be brought before the Cabinet on Tuesday. If approved, it would have been sent to the Governor.<\/p>\n Supreme Court hearing on August 31<\/strong><\/p>\n The next hearing in the case is scheduled for August 31.<\/p>\n On January 19, 2026, the Supreme Court gave the state government two weeks to take a decision on the prosecution sanction. When the matter came up again in May, no decision had been taken. The court subsequently directed the government to file a compliance report within four weeks.<\/p>\n A July 23 office report of the Supreme Court noted that no document had been filed in compliance with the May 8 order.<\/p>\n The affidavit expected before the August 31 hearing is therefore considered important in the case.<\/p>\n Minister Vijay Shah made an objectionable statement during a water conservation program in Mhow.<\/span><\/p>\n What happens if prosecution sanction is granted?<\/strong><\/p>\n If the government grants sanction for prosecution, it can inform the Supreme Court of its decision through an affidavit. Further legal proceedings can then move ahead as per the law.<\/p>\n If sanction is not granted, however, the matter will not necessarily end. Once Shah is no longer a minister, the SIT may be able to proceed with prosecution without requiring prior government sanction, according to the position emerging in the case.<\/p>\n Action sought under BNS Section 196(1)(a)<\/strong><\/p>\n The SIT has sought prosecution sanction under Section 196(1)(a) of the BNS. The provision deals with acts that promote enmity, hatred or ill-will between different groups.<\/p>\n What did Vijay Shah say?<\/strong><\/p>\n Shah made the controversial remarks about Colonel Sofia Qureshi during a Halma programme in Raikunda village in Mhow, Indore, on May 11, 2025.<\/p>\n His remarks triggered a nationwide controversy. Shah later apologised several times.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court had also expressed displeasure over his apology during the hearings. On January 19, the court observed that the apology had come after considerable delay.<\/p>\n Two key steps before the government<\/strong><\/p>\n The government now faces two key steps:<\/p>\n Other Cabinet decisions<\/strong><\/p>\n Seoni-Balaghat road to be upgraded to four lanes<\/strong><\/p>\n The Cabinet approved the widening of the 91.6-km Seoni-Balaghat road into a four-lane road with paved shoulders.<\/p>\n Around 6 km of the route passes through forest areas, with part of it falling within a tiger core area. The project is estimated to cost \u20b93,458 crore and will be developed under the Hybrid Annuity Model.<\/p>\n The project is expected to reduce travel time between Seoni and Balaghat from around two hours to about one hour.<\/p>\n 12 new road projects approved<\/strong><\/p>\n The government also approved the construction of 12 new roads under the Hybrid Annuity Model.<\/p>\n The projects will be transferred to the Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC). The government plans to raise a loan of \u20b94,600 crore through NABARD for their construction.<\/p>\n Landowners to get four times the prescribed rate<\/strong><\/p>\n To speed up land acquisition for road projects, the government approved purchasing land through mutual consent.<\/p>\n Landowners will receive four times the prescribed rate. The government expects the move to reduce delays in land acquisition and speed up road construction.<\/p>\n EOW gets power to register economic offences under BNS<\/strong><\/p>\n The Cabinet decided to bring the investigation and prosecution of economic offences in line with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.<\/p>\n Earlier, such cases were registered under provisions of the Indian Penal Code. Following the implementation of the BNS on July 1, 2024, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) will now be authorised to register cases under the specified BNS provisions relating to economic offences.<\/p>\n Youth to be linked with jobs and skills<\/strong><\/p>\n Public Works Minister Rakesh Singh said the government would identify young people in Madhya Pradesh who are neither employed nor studying or receiving skills training.<\/p>\n According to a NITI Aayog report linked to the Viksit Bharat initiative, young people have been divided into five categories. The fifth category includes those who have no employment, skills or education.<\/p>\n The state plans to identify such youth and connect them with skill training, employment and self-employment opportunities. A working group will be formed with officials from higher education, skill development, sports and youth welfare and other departments.<\/p>\n Preparations for water shortages in low-rainfall areas<\/strong><\/p>\n Collectors and concerned officials in areas that have received below-normal rainfall this year will prepare local action plans.<\/p>\n Officials have been directed to make advance arrangements to deal with possible water shortages so that immediate action can be taken if the situation worsens.<\/p>\n Next Jan Vishwas campaign programmes<\/strong><\/p>\n The Jan Vishwas campaign has completed three weeks.<\/p>\n The next programmes under the campaign will be held on August 29 and September 5. The events will focus on taking government schemes and public-interest issues to people.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Madhya Pradesh Cabinet did not discuss the proposal seeking sanction to prosecute Tribal Affairs Minister Vijay Shah over his controversial remarks about Colonel Sofia Qureshi during its meeting on Tuesday. The proposal was being prepared for consideration by the Cabinet, but it was stopped at the final stage and was not included in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[31173,22042,31175,31176,21040,31177,31174,31178],"class_list":["post-34684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation","tag-madhya-pradesh-cabinet","tag-mp-government","tag-prosecution-sanction","tag-sofia-qureshi","tag-supreme-court","tag-tribal-affairs-minister","tag-vijay-shah","tag-vijay-shah-controversy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/petrolnews.in\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Minister](\"https:\/\/images.bhaskarassets.com\/web2images\/521\/2026\/08\/25\/comp-4-a1747126089_1787628105.gif\")
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