Hyderabad:
Senior IAS officer in Telangana Smita Sabharwal on Saturday said she gave a detailed statement to the Gachibowli police over the reposting of an AI-generated image of a 400-acre land at Kancha Gachibowli here next to the University of Hyderabad (UoH).
Observing that the post was reshared by 2,000 people on ‘X’, Ms Sabharwal, who was served notice as a witness, said she sought clarification from the police whether the same action (issuing notices) is initiated for all.
“Have fully cooperated with Gachibowli police authorities, and given my detailed statement today as a law abiding citizen under BNSS Act. The post was reshared by 2000 individuals on this platform. I sought clarification on whether same action is initiated for all!,” she said in a post on ‘X’.
Have fully cooperated with Gachibowli police authorities, and given my detailed statement today as a law abiding citizen under BNSS Act.
The post was reshared by 2000 individuals on this platform.
I sought clarification on whether same action is initiated for all!If not,…
— Smita Sabharwal (@SmitaSabharwal) April 19, 2025
If the same action is not taken, it raises concerns about “selective targeting”, which in turn compromises the principles of natural justice and equality before the law, said Ms Sabharwal, Principal Secretary (Youth Affairs, Tourism and Culture) of the Telangana government.
The Cyberabad Police have issued a notice to the senior IAS officer over the reposting of the AI-generated image to elicit information pertaining to the case of creating and circulating “misleading” content on social media platforms regarding the land parcel.
The Telangana government’s plans to develop IT infrastructure and others in the 400 acre land, tree felling and alleged threat to wildlife there met with protests by the UoH Students Union and the matter is also being heard by the Supreme Court.
Ms Sabharwal, on March 31, reposted an image featuring earthmoving machines, two deer, and a peacock, which was originally shared by another social media handle on ‘X’.
#Ghibli Story On #Hyderabad Today! #SaveHCU #SaveHCUBioDiversity#SaveHyderabadBioDiversity 🏞️ pic.twitter.com/ozbmxvSZ7D
— Hi Hyderabad (@HiHyderabad) March 31, 2025
“A notice was issued under Section 179 BNSS on April 12 to the IAS officer. It is a notice to elicit some information as a witness,” a police official had told PTI on April 16.
Cases were earlier registered regarding the posting of some images on social media. In that regard, to find out what exactly she posted and from where she got it, the notice was issued seeking information, police said.
Police have booked cases following complaints that “misleading” content was created, posted, and circulated on social media platforms.
The complainants alleged that the content was maliciously intended to cause public unrest and provoke the student community and agitating groups to breach public peace by morphing photos and videos related to the land with unverified information.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
