Social media posts claiming Justice S Muralidhar was pictured with the Indian National Congress's (INC) top brass, are false as the picture shows former Additional Solicitor General and Supreme Court Advocate KC Kaushik.
Justice S Muralidhar is the subject of a heated political row over his transfer from the Delhi High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court after he criticised the Delhi Police over its alleged inaction in the lead-up to communal riots in the north-east part of the city.
Facebook posts showing two photographs - one of Justice S Muralidhar and another showing SC Advocate KC Kaushik claim they are the same.
The screenshot of a Facebook post by one Virendra Pal, which has now been deleted, consists of two photos and text in Hindi.
The caption in Hindi translates to: "In the above image, Judge Murlidharan, and in the picture below lawyer Murlidharan with Sonia Gandhi during filing nomination. Did you understand, now?"
(In Hindi: ऊपर के चित्र में जज मुरलीधरण है, और नीचे के चित्र में सोनिया गाँधी जी का चुनाव फॉर्म भरवाते वकील मुरलीधरण है| अब समझे?)
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The screenshot of the now-deleted post can be seen below.
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The photo has also been tweeted by one Renuka Jain. Along with the caption - same as in the above posts - she went on to falsely reason it that S Murlidhar saw the hate speeches by the BJP politicians, only.
एक तथ्य सामने आया है वो जज मुरलीधरन कभी कांगेस के मनीष तिवारी के एसिस्टेंट थे व इको सिस्टम में हाईकोर्ट के जज बने,पहले सोनिया गांधी का पर्चा भरवाने साथ ज़ाया करते थे,इसीलिए वो सिर्फ़ बीजेपी नेताओं की स्पीच उन्हें हेट स्पीच लगी,नीचे माननीय का खुद का फ़ोटो व परचा भरवाने का लगा है pic.twitter.com/K0y3jcHkN9
— #RenukaJain (@RenukaJain6) February 29, 2020
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search and found that the second photo in the misleading post is from when Sonia Gandhi filed her nomination for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh.
During the nomination filing at Rae Bareli collectorate, she was accompanied by Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Robert Vadra and lawyer KC Kaushik, the man who has been misidentified as justice S Murlidhar.
Click here and here for articles to know more about the nomination.
BOOM also found a YouTube video uploaded by Asian News International (ANI) in April last year. In the video, lawyer KC Kaushik can be seen speaking to reporters about the row at that time over Rahul Gandhi's citizenship.
The introduction of the video reads: "Amethi (UP), Apr 22 (ANI): While speaking to ANI, on objection raised on Rahul Gandhi's nomination, lawyer of Rahul Gandhi KC Kaushik said, "Rahul Gandhi was born in India and he holds an Indian passport, there is no issue of his citizenship. His passport, voter-ID, and his income tax, everything is of India."
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A side-by-side comparison of the photos of the two men clearly show they are not the same.
Left: Former Additional Solicitor General of India, SC Advocate KC Kaushik
Right: Justice S Muralidhar
Justice S Muralidhar is in the news after the central government transferred him from the Delhi High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court hours after he had criticised the Delhi police for failing to register FIRs against a few politicians for their alleged hate speeches in the run-up to the riots that hit north-east Delhi this week. The move was criticised by several members of the legal fraternity and opposition parties. The government on its part has argued that the transfer order was routine and should not be politicised. The transfer had been earlier recommended by a Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice Bobde on February 12, 2020. Read more about it here.