No, Supreme Court Judges Who Criticized Nupur Sharma Are Not In The Image With Prannoy Roy As Posts Claim

A photo showing Prannoy Roy, Brinda Karat, and others having lunch together in a location which appears as some hill station with a picturesque view is viral on social media. While sharing this image, people on social media claimed that that viral image shows Supreme Court judges Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala having lunch with the Naxal gang.

Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala were the part of the bench that harshly criticised former BJP spokesman Nupur Sharma for her comments on the Prophet Muhammad.

A Facebook user shared this image and wrote, "See with whom the Supreme court judges who passed verdict are having lunch with. The lady to the left of Roy is the one who got the stay of bulldozer in Delhi..Rinita Mazumdar,then 2 SC judges, #SuryaKant and #Pardiwala with the naxal gang. Pranab Roy & Radhika Roy are there."

Another user wrote, "The 2 SC judges, #SuryaKant and #Pardiwala with the naxal gang. Pranab Roy is there. Then there is Radhika Roy, Brinda Karat and some others. See... with whom the so called Supreme court judges who passed verdict and made inflammatory comments are having lunch with."

A Twitter user wrote, "Loyalists to Soniya Pariwaar. See with whom the Supreme court judges who passed verdict are having lunch with.*🤔 *Rinita Mazumdar,then 2 SC judges, #SuryaKant and #Pardiwala with the naxal gang. Pranab Roy & Radhika Roy are there."

It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.

Claim:

Viral image shows SC Judges Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala with Prannoy Roy and others.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. The viral image does not feature SC Judges Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala.

During the initial investigation, we did a google reverse image which led us to a tweet done by the handle named Mindescapes dated 03 July 2022 in which same image can be seen. The caption of the image reads, "A Chef's Table session with Finance Minister - Tamil Nadu, Mr. P. Thiagarajan, Dr. Prannoy Roy and Mrs. Radhika Roy, Mrs. Brinda Karat and Mr. Prakash Karat, Mrs. and Mr. N. Ram and Dipali Sikand. #ExperienceMindEscapes #ChefsTable #Nilgiris #GreatMindsMeet."

Mindscapes club is founded by Dipali Sikand (in the photo beside Prakash Karat). We searched the social media profile of Dipali Sikand and found that she shared the same image on her Linkedin profile on 02 July 2022. While sharing this image, she wrote, "Great Minds Meet at @MindEscapes this afternoon Dr. Thiagarajan, Mrs and Mr Prannoy Roy, Mrs and Mr N Ram, Mrs and Mr P Karat." It is to be noted that nowhere does the post mention about the Supreme Court judges Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala.

We also compared the photo of judges mentioned in the post with the people seen in the viral photo and found no similarities. The viral image features N Ram, director of The Hindu Publishing Group, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P Thiaga Rajan, CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat, MindEspaces Club founder, Dipali Sikand, journalist Radhika Roy, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, NDTV co-founder Prannoy Roy, and TNQ Books and Journals owner, Mariam Ram. (From Right to left)

We also found a clarification issued by N Ram, the director of The Hindu Publishing Group. While calling this post fake, he mentioned that the people in the image is himself and P Thiaga Rajan, the finance minister of Tamil Nadu. He wrote, "How idiotic! Fact: The two persons you identify as Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala of the Supreme Court of India are Tamil Nadu Finance Minister, Dr P Thiaga Rajan ( PTR ), and me, N Ram. And our lunch was at a restaurant in Ketti near Ooty. The calibre of your disinformation is pathetic, beneath contempt."

It is evident from our investigation that the men in the image were Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P Thiaga Rajan, CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat, NDTV co-founder Prannoy Roy and N Ram, Director of The Hindu Publishing Group. SC Judges Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala who were part of the bench that criticised former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her comments on the Prophet Muhammad are not in this photo as the post claim. Hence, the viral claim is false.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

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