Claim: A video shows PTI’s chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and talk show host, Maleeha Hashmey being affectionate at the Islamabad High Court building.
Fact: The video is from India where a former government official can be seen kissing a woman at a court building.
Barrister Gohar
Gohar was elected as the new chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) unopposed on 2 December 2023 in the intra-party elections held on the directives of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). He was nominated for the position by the party’s former chief, Imran Khan.
Fact or Fiction?
On 19 February 2024, X (formerly Twitter) user Col (R) Saqib Munir (@786GHQ) posted (archive) a video claiming that it shows PTI’s chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and talk show host, Maleeha Hashmey embracing and kissing within the premises of the Islamabad High Court. According to the tweet:
“یوتھیوں کے چئیرمین کی ویڈیو لیک ہو گئی ہے – اسلام آباد ہائیکورٹ کی چھت پر بیرسٹر گوہر اور ملیحہ ہاشمی چما چاٹی کرتے ہوئے ویڈیو ریکارڈ ہو گئی ہے – او پیا جے انقلاب تے اسلامی ٹچ – ہُن نیازی نہیں باہر نکلدا
[Translation: Youthia’s chairman’s video leaked. A video has been recorded of Barrister Gohar and Maleeha Hashmey kissing on the roof of the Islamabad High Court. Oh brother, this is islamic touch on the revolution. Niazi won’t come out]”
Soch Fact Check found the claim to be false. Taking a cue from one of the comments on the viral video which states that it shows Advocate Sanjeev from India, we searched Google with the key phrase, “advocate sanjeev kissing India”. The search revealed that the same video was posted here, here, here and here in February 2024 on Instagram and YouTube. The description of these posts suggest that the clip shows Sanjeev Kumar, a former Indian government official, kissing a woman named Udyaigini in court premises.
To investigate the claim further, we reached out to Jyoti Dwivedi, Special Correspondent, India Today. She shared that some Telugu news outlets have posted the video describing it as, “lawyer kissing scene in high court”, including Mahaa News which shared the video on 11 February. It’s important to note that Telugu is the official language in the south Indian states, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
We searched Google with the following Telugu and English caption “హైకోర్టులో లాయర్ ల ముద్దులాట Lawyer kissing scene in High Court” and found that the incident was also reported by some other Telugu outlets, including Dhootha TV Telugu and ABP Desam.
Virality:
On X, the video can be found here, here, here, here and here.
The tweet by @786GHQ gained significant traction with 229, 400 views, 2,700 likes and 1,600 reposts, as of writing time.
On Facebook, the claim was posted here, here, here and here.
Conclusion: A video of a former Indian government official engaging in inappropriate behaviour at a high court has been falsely linked to Barrister Gohar and Maleeha Hashmey.
Background image in cover photo: Gohar Ali Khan
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