Fact-check: False claims spread online about Justice Mansoor Ali Shah being threatened to resign
Geo Fact Check reviewed the full 27-minute speech delivered by Justice Shah in Islamabad at an event organised by the Centre for Social Justice, which focused on minority rights
Updated Monday Sep 02 2024
Claims circulating among Pakistani social media users suggest that Supreme Court Justice Mansoor Ali Shah recently revealed in a televised speech that he is being threatened to resign since July 14, after a ruling by the Supreme Court in which the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by former prime minister Imran Khan, was deemed eligible for reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies.
The claim is baseless. The judge has made no such statement.
Claim
On August 29, a Facebook user shared an 11-minute video clip of a speech delivered by Justice Shah on August 10 in Islamabad.
The user captioned the video: “Justice Mansoor Ali Shah reveals, Since July 14, I am being threatened to resign from office, but I have to fix the system that has been ruined for the last 75 years. If the country understands me, then don’t be scared; I can handle it.”
This post has garnered 1,900 shares and 12,000 likes, with the video being viewed over 129,000 times.
The video and similar clips have also been shared on X (formerly Twitter) with identical captions.
They can be seen here, here and here.
Fact
Justice Shah has not made any statement about being forced to resign. The judge is set to be elevated to the position of chief justice of Pakistan in October.
Geo Fact Check reviewed the full 27-minute speech delivered by him in Islamabad at an event organised by the Centre for Social Justice, which focused on minority rights.
In his speech, Justice Shah discussed the constitutional rights of minorities and the implementation of court judgments concerning these rights. Nowhere in his speech did he mention being threatened or forced to resign since July 14.
Even in the clips posted online by various social media accounts he makes no such declaration.
It is also relevant to note that following the February 8 national elections, PTI was initially denied reserved seats for women and minorities. However, a July 12 ruling by a 13-member bench, with an 8-5 majority, declared PTI eligible for these seats.
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