Hyderabad: An section written against a young Telangana bureaucrat in a gossip column of a leading English magazine has triggered outrage in official circles in the state, earning a legal notice from the officer and sparking controversy.
Smita Sabharwal, additional secretary to the Telangana chief minister in her legal notice to Outlook Magazine demanded a public apology for carrying a “slanderous and sexist” piece along with a distasteful caricature of her in its gossip column.
She was described in the piece as “lovely lady” and “eye candy”.
The write-up, which has also sparked protests from advocates and students and made other bureaucrats furious, attributed sinister motives to her appointment in a crucial position in the CM’s secretariat despite being young and junior.
The lady officer demanded that the magazine should tender a public apology within 15 days or face civil and criminal action.
A Telangana advocate Govardhan Reddy has also lodged a separate police complaint for the defamatory write-up with Hyderabad city police.
Meanwhile in apparent retaliation Telangana government has decided not to renew the accreditation card of Outlook’s correspondent in Hyderabad, Madhavi Tata.
Allam Narayana, chairman, Telangana media accreditation committee said it was unanimously decided by the committee to reject her application.
