Telangana govt sanctions Rs 15 lakh to IAS officer for lawsuit

Hyderabad: The Telangana government has sanctioned Rs 15 lakh to a woman IAS officer for suing an English magazine for allegedly damaging her reputation in an item it had published sometime ago which had stirred up a controversy.

Additional Secretary to Telangana Chief Minister intends to sue 'Outlook' for Rs 10 crore for allegedly damaging her reputation by publishing an article and caricature portraying her indecently.

The state government today issued an order sanctioning Rs 15 lakh to Smita Sabharwal towards legal expenses to file the civil suit after she informed the government of her plans. She told the government that as per norms an amount of Rs 9.75 lakh has to be deposited as court fee while filing the civil suit and requested for sanction of an amount of Rs 15 lakh, which would include other legal expenses.

Sanction is hereby accorded for an amount of Rs 15 lakhs to Smt. Smita Sabharwal, IAS, Additional Secretary to Chief Minister towards legal expenses in connection with filing of civil suit against the management of Outlook Magazine in the above matter, subject to condition that in case of compensation being awarded by court, this amount should be refunded, the GO said.

Based on a complaint from Sabarwal's husband Akun Sabharwal, an IPS officer, the city police had booked a case against the weekly including its Editor-in-Chief.