A photo of Congress President Sonia Gandhi standing with a judge is being shared with the claim that Gandhi is seen here standing with Justice JB Pardiwala, who was one of the Supreme Court Judges to reprimand former Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her remarks about Prophet Muhammad. The posts sharing the photo also claim that Pardiwala was a Congress MLA in the 1980s, and that he was a speaker in the 7th Gujarat Legislative Assembly.
BOOM found these claims to be false; we ascertained that the judge seen in the photo is not Pardiwala, but former Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan. The claim also falsely stated that Pardiwala himself was a Congress MLA, and a speaker in the 7th Gujarat Assembly, whereas it was his father Burjorji Cawasji Pardiwala who held these positions.
On July 1, 2022, during the plea appeal by Sharma to club the FIRs against here on her remarks against the Prophet, Pardiwala and Justice Surya Kant, who oversaw the proceedings, rebuked her for her comments and highlighted her role in igniting communal tensions which eventually led to the murder of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal.
BOOM found the photo being circulated on Facebook with the following caption:
Original Hindi caption: यह रहा जसटिस जे बी पादरीवाला. जिनहोंने रियाज के हाथ में गरदन काटने वाली चाकू के लिए नूपुर शरमा को जिममेदार बताया, पहचानिए, ये माननीय 80 के दशक में कांगरेसी एमएलए रहे हैं और गुजरात के सातवें विधानसभा में सपीकर भी.- रहे है, सोचिए कि भारत की नयायपालिका की...
Misinformation about hantavirus has run rampant on social media, with online users reviving viral COVID-19 theories to spread fake news about the outbreak. From conspiracy theories claiming that...