The Delhi Police has registered an FIR against senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan for allegedly sharing a doctored video of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in which he purportedly criticised India over its advice on the Russia-Ukraine war.

A police officer said the video came to their attention after an X handle named QuoteNews posted about Bhushan sharing the allegedly manipulated clip on Tuesday.

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had fact-checked Bhushan’s post and declared the video fake. Bhushan had allegedly shared the clip from his X account with the caption, “A tight slap by Russian Foreign Minister on India. What kind of advice was Jaishankar giving to India?”

Police officials said they discovered the video during a routine cyber patrolling exercise while monitoring social media platforms for misinformation. The New Delhi range of the Special Cell has registered a case under the Information Technology Act and other relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

In the doctored video, Lavrov purportedly says that India is only a trading partner for Russia and has no right to interfere in its foreign policy.

“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.

The video circulated online after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Lavrov in Atlanta on October 31, on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting. Following the meeting, Jaishankar posted on X, “Discussed the Ukraine conflict, Gulf situation and multilateral issues with FM Sergey Lavrov of Russia.”