A video of a man dancing to the song ‘Sajna, Say Yes To The Dress’ by rapper Badshah and playback singer Payal Dev has been making the rounds on social media with the claim that the man featured in the video is senior advocate and LGBTQIA+ rights activist Saurabh Kirpal, who is the son of former Chief Justice of India (CJI) B N Kirpal.
Most posts about the above-mentioned video on social media carry the following caption in Hindi: “This is Saurabh Kirpal, Supreme Court’s prospective judge. His father B N Kirpal has been the CJI in 2002. Therefore, it is crucial for Chief Justice Chandrachud to recognize gay marriage under the tradition of familism.”
The claim is being made at a time when a 5-judge Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court led by CJI D Y Chandrachud is hearing a petition on marriage equality seeking the legalisation of same-sex marriage.
Twitter user Manoj Srivastava shared the video with the above caption on May 3. The tweet has received over 23,000 views and 1,000 retweets. (Archive)
*ये हैं सौरव कृपाल*
*SC के भावी न्यायाधीश**इनके पिता बी.एन. कृपाल*
*2002 में SC के मुख्य न्यायाधीश थे**इसलिए परिवारवाद परम्परा के तहत*
*चीफ जस्टिस चंद्रचूड़ के लिए**समलैंगिक विवाह को मान्यता*
*अत्यंत महत्वपूर्ण है* pic.twitter.com/cVfwjt80hs— Manoj Srivastava (@ManojSr60583090) May 2, 2023
A few other social media users also drew attention to the senior advocate’s sexual preferences and the identity of his partner and shared the video with the following caption in Hindi: “This is Saurav Kripal, a gay lawyer, his partner is a Swiss citizen and his father B N Kripal was the Chief Justice of SC in 2002. The disputed collegium system of the Supreme Court is adamant on appointing him as a judge of the Delhi High Court. The views of the court towards homosexuality are now understood. #LGBT”
A Twitter user with the profile name ‘Dinesh 100%FB’ shared the viral video with the above caption on May 6. (Archive)
ये हैं समलैंगिक वकील सौरव कृपाल, इनका पार्टनर स्विस नागरिक है और इनके पिता B. N. कृपाल 2002 में SC के मुख्य न्यायाधीश थे।
सुप्रीम कोर्ट का विवादित कॉलेजियम सिस्टम इन्हें दिल्ली हाईकोर्ट का न्यायाधीश नियुक्त करने पर अड़ा है।
समलैंगिकता के प्रति कोर्ट के विचार अब समझ आ गये।#LGBT pic.twitter.com/D65iBbZIqH
— Dinesh 100%FB (@DineshRawat888) May 6, 2023
Many other social media users shared the viral video with the above claims on Twitter and Facebook.
The above tweets have received quite a few comments that are homophobic in nature, directed towards Adv. Saurabh Kirpal and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Fact Check
We broke down the viral video into multiple keyframes and ran a reverse search on a few of them which led us to the Instagram profile: @damandiaries, which belongs to Damandeep Singh Chaudhary, co-founder of the talent agency Runway Lifestyle, and a digital creator.
We found the viral video in his profile which was posted on January 8, 2022. In it, he can be seen dancing to the song ‘Sajna, Say Yes To The Dress’.
View this post on Instagram
Adv. Saurabh Kirpal also tweeted about the viral video on May 4 clearing it up that it is not him, and condemned the mocking manner of the comments made about the video. (Archive)
There’s a video of a man dancing, allegedly me, that’s gone viral. a) it’s not me, b) mocking anyone this way is disgusting homophobia. Bigots may cloak their hatred behind justifications, but it remains vile. Shame on them
— saurabh kirpal (@KirpalSaurabh) May 4, 2023
Therefore, the claims that Advocate Saurabh Kirpal is dancing in the viral video are false. The video is from 2022 and the man dancing in the video is Damandeep Singh Chaudhary, who often shares his dance videos on Instagram reels.
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