Fact-check: Edited photo of Imran Khan falsely shared as recent court appearance
The original photo was taken on May 23, 2023 and shows Imran Khan clean-shaven
Updated Tuesday Aug 26 2025
On August 21, after the Supreme Court of Pakistan granted bail to former prime minister Imran Khan in eight cases linked to the riots on May 9, 2023, a picture began circulating on social media which claims to show a recent picture of Khan. Multiple online users believe the picture was snapped on the day when Khan was leaving the courtroom after the order was announced.
The claim is false. The picture is old and has been edited.
Claim
On August 22, an Instagram account shared a photo claiming to show former prime minister Imran Khan in court with a grown beard, surrounded by uniformed police officers.
It was shared a day after the Supreme Court accepted the bail pleas of former prime minister Imran Khan in eight cases related to the 2023 riots. The picture was captioned: “The image going viral on social media was taken during Imran Khan’s appearance in the Supreme Court.”
The same photo of the former prime minister was posted on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, here, here and here on August 21 and August 22.
Some users appeared to believe it was genuine, but others questioned the authenticity of this image. “Today I saw this picture on the internet. Is this a real picture of Imran Khan?” asked one X (Twitter) user.
Fact
The picture of Imran Khan is from 2023, and not recent. Additionally, the original picture has been edited and a beard has been added to Khan’s face.
A reverse image search on Google showed that the photo was actually taken on May 23, 2023, showing a clean-shaven former prime minister Imran Khan appearing before a court in Islamabad.
The picture was included in several news reports of the incident and one such Geo News report can be read here.
On the same day the photo was also tweeted by Khan’s political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf official X (Twitter) account. It shows that a beard was later added to the picture and it was recirculated to make it appear as if it is a recent picture of the jailed politician.
Verdict: The photo circulating on social media has been manipulated. The original image was taken on May 23, 2023 and shows Khan clean-shaven.
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