(Editor's Note: The story was first published on 6 July 2022 and is being republished from The Quint's archives in the light of a Bengaluru court directing social media platforms to take down the photograph being circulated with the false claim.)
A photograph of NDTV's Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy along with The Hindu's N Ram is being shared on social media to claim that the journalists had a lunch with the Supreme Court Judges Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala.
The two judges were a part of the bench that came down heavily on ex-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her remarks against Prophet Muhammad.
However, the image shows the owner of TNQ Books and Journals, Mariam Ram, NDTV co-founder Prannoy Roy, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat, journalist Radhika Roy, founder of MindEspaces Club, Dipali Sikand, CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P Thiaga Rajan, and the director of the The Hindu Publishing Group, N Ram. (From left to right)
The image was uploaded on 3 July 2022 by MindEscapes, a community club at the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu.
CLAIM
The caption of the viral post stated that the photo showed SC judges Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala with the Roys.
An archived version of the post can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
Similar posts can be seen here and here.
The Quint also received queries about the viral photo on its WhatsApp tipline.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
On conducting a reverse image search on the photo on Google, we came across a tweet by a community club from Tamil Nadu, @MindEscapesClub, from 3 July 2022.
The tweet carried the same photo and said that the club had arranged 'a Chef's Table session' with Tamil Nadu's Finance Minister P Thiaga Rajan, Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy, Brinda Karat, Prakash Karat, Mariam Ram, N Ram and Dipali Sikand.
MindEspaces tweeted the photo.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
Dipali Sikand posted the picture on her LinkedIn account.
(Source: LinkedIn/Screenshot)
We also compared the two judges with the people seen in the viral photo and found no similarities between them.
(Note: Swipe to see the images)
1. The first photo shows a comparison between the two SC judges, and N Ram and P Thiaga Rajan from the viral photo (right to left).
2. The second photo shows a comparison between Prakash Karat and the SC judges.
Comparison of SC judges with N Ram and P Thiaga Rajan seen in the viral photo.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
We also found a clarification issued by N Ram, the director of the The Hindu Publishing Group, stating that he was present in the photo along with P Thiaga Rajan, the finance minister of Tamil Nadu.
N Ram dismissed the claims.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
To sum it up, the people seen in the viral photo are not the Supreme Court judges have a luncheon with the Roys, N Ram and the Karats.
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