FIR against Prashant Bhushan for sharing fake video of Russian FM

Delhi Police has registered an FIR against senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan for sharing a digitally manipulated video of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that purportedly contained remarks hostile to India, officials said. The case was registered at the Special Cell Police Station following cyber patrolling on November 3, when police noticed a social media post by the handle @thequotesnews, claiming that a purported doctored video of the foreign minister had been shared from Bhushan's X handle. The video allegedly carried misleading and inflammatory content, with the potential to spread rumours, defame individuals and disturb public order, police said.
In the doctored video, the Russian foreign minister can purportedly be heard saying that India is just a trading partner for Russia. “This commercial relationship doesn’t give India the right to interfere in our foreign policy or advise us on Russia, Ukraine or the United States. India is neither our ally nor a superpower,” he appears to be saying.
In a post on X, Delhi Police said the video allegedly contained remarks hostile to India and raised concerns over the circulation of misleading, defamatory and inflammatory content that could incite public disturbance and spread rumours.The police said an FIR had been registered under Sections 336(4), 353(1) (c), 356 and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 66C of the Information Technology Act. The case follows a clarification by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which debunked a digitally manipulated video purportedly showing Lavrov criticising India over its internal affairs and oil purchases.
The video, which Bhushan had shared on social media, was also denied by the Russian Embassy. Subsequently, the MEA’s fact-check unit confirmed that the clip was fabricated. The MEA’s Official FactCheck account also issued a warning on X, describing the video as fake and stating: “Fake Alert!!! The video of the Russian Foreign Minister being used in this post is fake!”.