Did Lucknow Court Judge Take Selfie With Rahul Gandhi During Hearing of Indian Army ‘Defamation’ Case? BJP’s Amit Malviya’s Claim Found Fake in Fact Check

Mumbai, July 15: BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya on Tuesday, July 15, shared a photo on X, formerly Twitter, claiming that Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Alok Verma took a selfie with Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shortly after granting him bail in a defamation case. However, the claim was debunked by fact-checkers and later deleted by Malviya.

Amit Malviya had shared the photo with a caption, "This is the judge who is supposed to be hearing the case against Rahul Gandhi for insulting out Army and brave soldiers. He should immediately recuse himself. If he refuses, the complainants must approach the high court (sic)." Since then, several social media users started circulating the image with a claim that Lucknow court judge Alok Verma took a selfie with Rahul Gandhi. Will Samosa and Jalebi Display Cigarette-Style Health Warnings? PIB Fact Check Debunks Fake News, Says Health Ministry’s Advisory Doesn’t Mention Warning Labels on Indian Food Products.

Amit Malviya Falsely Claims Lucknow Judge Took Selfie With Rahul Gandhi

Did Lucknow Court Judge Take Selfie With Rahul Gandhi?

A closer investigation revealed that the person in the selfie was not the judge, but in fact Syed Mahmood Hassan, a Lucknow-based advocate. Visuals from the official District Court website confirmed that the man in the photo does not match ACJM Alok Verma. Congress spokesperson Supriya Srinate and fact-checkers also identified the person in the photo as Syed Mahmood Hassan, a Lucknow-based advocate, not a judge.

No, Lucknow Judge Did Not Take Selfie With Rahul Gandhi, It Was a Lawyer

'He’s a Lawyer and Not the Judge,' Supriya Shrinate

Image of Judge Alok Verma on District and Session Court Lucknow Website

On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi appeared before the MP/MLA Special Magistrate Court in Lucknow in connection with a case related to allegedly defamatory statements made by him against the Indian Armed Forces during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022 and was granted bail by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Alok Verma. Will Japanese Bullet Train Not Run Between Ahmedabad and Mumbai? PIB Fact Check Debunks Fake News of Replacing Shinkansen With Vande Bharat Train.

Rahul Gandhi was allowed to leave after furnishing two personal bail bonds of INR 20,000 each and providing two sureties of the same amount, as directed by the court, for seeking bail after remaining absent during the last five hearings in the case. The court will now proceed further in the case on the next hearing scheduled for August 13.

Fact check

Claim :

Lucknow court judge Alok Verma took selfie with Rahul Gandhi during a defamation case hearing.

Conclusion :

The person who took selfie with Rahul Gandhi was a lawyer, not the judge.

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(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 15, 2025 09:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).