Delhi Police’s Special Cell has registered an FIR against senior advocate Prashant Bhushan over an allegedly manipulated video of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov shared on X. Police said that the matter came to their attention during cyber patrolling on November 3, after an X account publicly claimed the clip had been posted from Bhushan’s handle.
The video purportedly showed Lavrov criticizing India’s domestic affairs and its purchases of Russian oil. Bhushan shared it with a caption suggesting the Russian minister had rebuked India. The Ministry of External Affairs’ fact-check unit labelled the clip fake, and the Russian Embassy also rejected the remarks attributed to Lavrov.
Police registered FIR No. 263/26 at the Special Cell police station. It invokes Sections 336(4), 353(1)(c), 356 and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, plus Section 66C of the Information Technology Act. The provisions relate to forgery, public mischief, defamation, use of a forged document and identity theft.
Police allege the video contained misleading, defamatory and inflammatory material that could spread rumours or disturb public order. These are allegations set out in the FIR; the case remains under investigation. Officers are examining the clip and its circulation on social media.
The post’s caption described the purported remarks as a rebuke to India and questioned the advice given to Russia by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Neither MEA nor Russian officials attributed those comments to Lavrov. The clip circulated after a recent Jaishankar-Lavrov meeting on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ gathering in Atlanta.

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