Telangana transfers IAS officer who reposted AI image of Kancha Gachibowli land

Hindustan Times

28-04-2025

In a major reshuffle of the Telangana bureaucracy, the Congress-led state government transferred several senior IAS officers, including Smita Sabharwal, who recently hit the headlines in a row over an AI-generated image of the 400-acre land at Kancha Gachibowli.
Sabharwal, who was serving as the Principal Secretary for youth affairs, tourism and culture of the Telangana government, reposted the land's image generated by artificial intelligence. She was also summoned by the Gachibowli police, to whom she said she gave a detailed statement about the reposted image.
She took to X and said, "Have fully cooperated with Gachibowli police authorities, and given my detailed statement today as a law-abiding citizen under the BNSS Act. The post was reshared by 2000 individuals on this platform. I sought clarification on whether the same action is initiated for all!"
She said that if the same action is not taken against all those who reposted the image, then it raises concerns of "selective targeting", which ultimately would compromise the principles of natural justice and legal equality.
Sabharwal was among the 20 officers who were reassigned to their new roles on Sunday. She has been transferred as the Member Secretary of the Telangana Finance Commission, an India Today report said.
The AI-generated image was shared by Sabharwal on her X handle on March 31. The image featured earthmoving machines, two deer, and a peacock, which originally was shared by another account on the social media platform.
The Cyberabad Police had also issued notice to the senior IAS officer over the reposting of the AI image to get information linked to the case of generating and circulating "misleading" content on social media.
The Telangana government had plans to develop IT infrastructure and others in the 400-acre land. The dispute over the land at Kancha Gachibowli next the University of Hyderabad also witnessed felling of trees and alleged threat to wildlife, and met with protests by the institute's students union. The matter is also being heard in the Supreme Court.
The reshuffle comes just a day after senior IAS officer K Ramakrishna Rao was appointed as the next Chief Secretary to the Telangana government. Rao, currently the Special Chief Secretary in the finance department, will succeed the incumbent Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumar, who is set to retire on April 30.
Other top officials who were transferred as part of the reshuffle are: Shashank Goel, the director-general of the Dr. MCR HRD institute, moved to the Vice Chairman role of the Centre for Good Governance, India Today reported. Special Chief Secretary Jayesh Ranjan was reassigned to head the Industry and Investment Cell in the chief minister's office (CMO).
(with PTI inputs)