IAS Officer Smitha Sabarwal Replies to Notice Over AI Photo Retweet

It is known that an AI-generated photo was recently circulated, claiming the presence of wild animals in the Kanch Gachibowli lands. A Twitter user operating under the handle “Hi Hyderabad” posted this image, which was subsequently retweeted by Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Smitha Sabarwal. In response, the Gachibowli police issued her a notice and summoned her for inquiry.

Initially, Smitha Sabarwal did not respond to the notice but later went on to publish several more tweets critical of the government. On Saturday, she addressed the controversy publicly, confirming that she had replied to the notice issued by the Gachibowli police. She stated that as a person who respects the law, she had provided explanations to the questions raised by the police.

Speaking to the media, Smitha Sabarwal posed several questions, noting that she was not the only one who retweeted the post. “I did retweet the ‘Hi Hyderabad’ tweet, but around 2,000 others also retweeted it,” she said. She questioned whether all of those individuals were also issued notices. “Have the same actions been taken against all of them? Is the law applied equally to everyone, or have certain individuals been selectively targeted in this case?” she asked.

Meanwhile, the Revanth Reddy-led government has taken serious action against the spread of misinformation concerning the Kanch Gachibowli lands. Cases have been filed against those who posted the morphed photos. In light of this, several senior political leaders have deleted their posts, including Union Minister Kishan Reddy.

However, Smitha Sabarwal has not backed down. Despite receiving police notices, she has continued to post critical messages against the government. She shared a series of tweets referencing Supreme Court judgments, including one image depicting a court order for the restoration of 100 acres. In another post, she reposted an image shared by two women, which posed the question: “Will Telangana police issue notices even to their own IAS officer? What does this indicate?”