Claim: During a press conference, PTI member Asad Qaiser said that Justice Athar Minallah is a senior leader of the PTI and will be appointed as a senator from the party after retirement.
Fact: The claim is false. Qaiser did not make any such remarks about the Supreme Court judge during the press conference.
X user @DrSyedaSadaf shared a video of PTI member Asad Qaiser, writing, “اطہر من اللہ ہمارے پارٹی کا سنئیر رہنما ہے۔ انہوں نے جو کہا وہ علیمہ خان نے عمران خان کا پیغام پہنچایا تھا۔ اطہر من اللہ ریٹائیر منٹ کے بعد ہمارے سینٹر ہونگے۔
اطہر من اللہ کی بہن پی ٹی آئی عہدیدار ہے۔ بحیثیت پارٹی کارکن ہم انکا دفاع کرینگے۔اسد قیصر کا انکشاف”
[Translation: Justice Athar Minallah is a senior leader of our party. What Athar Minallah said was all delivered to party founder Imran Khan by Aleema Khan. Athar Minallah will become our senator after retirement, reveals Asad Qaiser.]
In the video, Qaiser says, “Kal jo Justice Athar Minallah ne Karachi Bar mein khitaab kiya hai jo usne jurat mandana mauqif apnaya hai aur us ne khaas kar kaha hai ke yeh hybrid system dictatorship ka doosra naam hai tou hum uskay mauqif ki himayat kartay hain. Aur umeed rakhtay hain ke Supreme Court ke judges aur High Court ke judges ke tamaam judges Athar Minallah ke saath iss mauqay pe kharay hongay. Ab iss parlimaani aur jo iss waqt humari awaami assembly hai, hum mutalba kartay hain ke jo Athar Minallah ke mauqif hain yeh poori awaami assembly uskay saath h-”
[Translation: Yesterday, Justice Athar Minallah addressed the Karachi Bar, and the courageous stance he took, especially when he said that this hybrid system is just another name for dictatorship, we fully support his position. We also hope that the judges of the Supreme Court and High Court will stand with Athar Minallah at this moment. Now, regarding this Parliament and our current National Assembly, we demand that the entire Assembly support the stance taken by Athar Minallah.]
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check found the claim dubious, as Asad Qaiser did not say anything about Justice Athar Minallah being a senior leader of the party or appointing him as a senator after retirement even in the video accompanying the post being fact-checked.
We reverse-searched keyframes of the video to trace the original footage and understand the context of Qaiser’s remarks. Soch Fact Check reviewed the footage available from the 5 September press conference by the PTI, held outside the National Assembly in Islamabad. A review of the complete footage revealed that Qaiser did not make any such statements about the judge as claimed in the viral posts.
The only time he mentioned Justice Minallah was when he referred to his speech at the Karachi Bar and expressed support for his stance. At no point did he say that Justice Minallah would become a senator after retirement or that he was associated with the PTI.
Virality
The claim was shared here, here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, here, and here.
On X, it was shared here (archive).
On Instagram, it was shared here (archive).
Conclusion: The caption is false. The video in the claim and the footage of the press conference in question does not show Asad Qaiser saying that Justice Athar Minallah is a senior PTI member and would be appointed for the Senate after retirement.
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Background image in cover photo: Dawn
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