An Indian scholar has been misidentified as Singapore's chief justice in online posts that falsely claim footage shows the top judge calling on a New Delhi audience to defend the Indian judiciary's power to appoint judges. The clip -- viewed thousands of times -- in fact shows a speech by legal scholar G Mohan Gopal, not Singaporean Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon. While Menon gave a speech during his visit to New Delhi in February, official transcripts contained no references to the Indian judiciary's power to appoint judges.

The one-minute, 41-second video was shared here on Facebook on March 8, 2023. It has been viewed more than 3,000 times.

"MUST WATCH: The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Singapore, Prof Mohan Gopa (sic), said at a seminar in New Delhi that the Constitution of India could be hijacked to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra," reads the video's caption, referring to the term meaning Hindu nationalism. "For this very reason and more he cautions against any direct govt role in the appointment of judges."

The man in the video is in fact G Mohan Gopal, a former director of the National Judicial Academy, while the actual head of the Supreme Court of Singapore is Sundaresh Menon.

In the clip, Gopal accuses the Indian government -- led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- of trying to install judges that favour its agenda in the judiciary.

He goes on to defend India's system of appointing judges -- the collegium -- whereby the chief justice...

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