By: Umme Kulsum
March 27 2024
Screenshot of a post claiming video shows group of lawyers assaulting senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)
The video shows a 2019 clash between lawyers and police over a parking dispute in New Delhi. It is unrelated to senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia.
What is the claim?
A video depicting a confrontation among individuals mostly clad in black coats, robes, and white shirts is circulating on social media with the claim that it portrays an altercation involving Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson and senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia.
A user shared the video clip on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption, "The wait is over. Here is the video. These five seconds are more satisfying to me than ever before. BJP spokesperson and [expletive] person Gaurav Bhatia, beaten up by several lawyers. Police should take action now. (sic)" Archived versions of the post and others making similar claims can be found here, here, here, and here.
Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: X/ Modified by Logically Facts)
The video gained traction online shortly after reports emerged of a confrontation involving Bhatia, who was representing YouTuber Elvish Yadav in a case being heard by a local court in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. According to a statement by the Supreme Court Bar Association, tensions escalated on March 20 when a lawyer misbehaved with Bhatia and demanded that he remove his black armband. The bar association swiftly denounced the incident and urged the executive committee to issue a formal warning to the involved lawyer.
However, it's crucial to note that the video in question is old and unrelated to the incident above.
What we found
Logically Facts investigated and found that the incident in the viral video dates back to November 2019.
Through a reverse image search using keyframes from the viral video, we located the exact frame in a YouTube clip shared by India Times on November 6, 2019. The visuals in question can be found at the 1:12-minute mark in the YouTube video titled "Police, Lawyers Fight At Delhi's Tis Hazari Court, Vehicles Set On Fire." The description states that the altercation occurred between lawyers and police at Delhi's Tis Hazari Court over a parking space dispute.
An India Today video report also featured similar visuals as those captured in the viral video, with a matching frame visible at 2:23.
According to a report by NDTV, published on November 2, 2019, lawyers and police personnel clashed over a parking dispute at the Tis Hazari Court complex in New Delhi. Several people were injured during the incident, and a police vehicle was set ablaze, with many other cars vandalized.
Notably, the police vans depicted in the viral video bear the label "Delhi," while the altercation involving Bhatia took place recently in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddha Nagar district.
The verdict
A video that captures a scuffle between police and lawyers in 2019 has been shared as evidence of Gaurav Bhatia being assaulted by lawyers in 2024. Therefore, this claim has been marked as false.