Telangana senior IAS officer Smita Sabharwal questioned whether the authorities were taking consistent action against anyone who had reshared an AI-generated image of 400 acres of land in Kancha Gachibowli, adjacent to the University of Hyderabad.
On Saturday, Sabharwal validated that she had given a complete statement to the Gachibowli police after being called as a witness on notice. The viral photo in question, in which earthmoving machinery can be seen along with animals such as deer and a peacock, was shared on social media platform ‘X’, being reshared by almost 2,000 people.
Have cooperated in full with Gachibowli police officials, and presented my statement in detail today as a law compliant citizen under BNSS Act. This post was shared again by 2000 people on this platform. I asked for clarification on whether same action is taken for all!,” she wrote on ‘X’.
Sabharwal, who is now the Principal Secretary for Youth Affairs, Tourism, and Culture in Telangana, also expressed concerns about potential unequal treatment by the police. “If the same action is not taken, it gives rise to concerns of ‘selective targeting’, which in turn undermines the principles of natural justice and equality before the law,” she wrote in her post.
The Cyberabad Police had previously sent her a notice under Section 179 of the BNSS Act on April 12, on charges of supposedly false social media content related to the controversial land. “A notice was issued under Section 179 BNSS on April 12 to the IAS officer. It is a notice to bring out some information as a witness,” said a police official in PTI on April 16.
Authorities clarified that the notice was within an investigation into several social media updates that circulated unverified and doctored images concerning the property. Such posts, as per grievances, might cause disturbance and agitate protests, especially among students.
The image produced by the AI was first shared by someone else before being reshared by Sabharwal on March 31. Police claim they are attempting to find where she got the post from and what exactly she shared and how she obtained it.
The land itself has also been in the midst of controversy as the Telangana government plans to create IT infrastructure on the land. The action has prompted protests by the University of Hyderabad Students Union, raising environmental issues such as cutting down trees and disturbing wildlife. The case is being heard by the Supreme Court at the moment.
