Man taking selfie with Rahul Gandhi in Lucknow court is not a judge; know the facts

Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition, was granted bail by the MP-MLA court in Lucknow over his alleged remarks about the Indian Army. After this, a selfie with Rahul Gandhi started circulating on social media. People claimed that the man in the black coat seen in the photo is a judge.

Fact Crescendo received several requests to verify this photo through its WhatsApp Tipline (9049053770).

Many users shared the photo with this claim in the caption – “Judge taking a selfie with Rahul Gandhi before granting him bail in a Lucknow court.”

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Fact-Check

A reverse image search showed that the same photo was also shared by the News24 website. Along with the photo, they reported that the man in the black coat seen in the selfie is named Syed Mahmood Hasan, who has been working as a lawyer in the Lucknow District Court since 2006.

When News24 spoke to Syed Mahmood Hasan, he explained: “I was at the court for my own case. Around the same time, Rahul Gandhi also arrived. Many people were taking selfies with him, and one of my friends clicked a photo of me there. He sent it to me, and I posted it on Facebook. I am neither Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer nor a judge. Yes, I do practice law, and that’s why I was at the court.”

A keyword search showed that Rahul Gandhi’s hearing in the Lucknow court was presided over by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Alok Verma. You can read more details here and here.

Deccanherald

Later, we also found the real photo of Judge Alok Verma on the official website of the Allahabad High Court. This confirms that he is not the person seen in the viral image.

Allahabad High Court

What is the whole story?

On July 15, a Lucknow court granted bail to Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case linked to his alleged remarks about the Indian Army during the 2022 Bharat Jodo Yatra. The case was filed by former BRO director Uday Shankar Srivastava, who claimed Gandhi’s comments had harmed the Army’s reputation and insulted soldiers’ dignity. The court accepted Gandhi’s bail application and released him on a personal bond of ₹20,000 with two sureties. You can read more details here, here and here.

CONCLUSION

This confirms that the person taking a selfie with Rahul Gandhi in the Lucknow court is not a judge but lawyer Syed Mahmood Hasan. The photo is going viral with a false claim.

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