Outlook sued for slander

Hyderabad: Ms Smita Sabharwal, additional secretary to the TS Chief Minister, has filed a defamation notice against the English weekly magazine Outlook for carrying a “slanderous and sexist” piece on her.

Outlook, in a column named ‘Deep Throat’ in its recent edition, carried a snippet titled ‘No boring Babu’, stating that the IAS officer made a fashion statement with her lovely saris at every meeting and served as an ‘eye candy’.

It also carried a cartoon of Ms Sabharwal walking a ramp with a caricature of CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao clicking pictures with other politicians winking and cheering her on.

“My lawyer has sent a legal notice to Outlook Magazine India and its Hyderabad office. The article is disgusting and has hurt me a lot. I am an IAS officer and have risen to this level through hard work. I handle responsible and confidential jobs and they can’t make it look so trivial. It was distasteful and cheap. It was very personal,” Ms Sabharwal told DC.

The legal notice stated that Ms Sabharwal was “utterly flabbergasted, shell-shocked, angry and extremely disturbed by the completely baseless, slanderous, defamatory, distasteful article and intentional vilification campaign”.

The Outlook snippet focused on her looks, attire and sudden stardom in bureaucratic circles. It read: “The lovely lady, known for her ethnic style, recently stunned all by appearing in a trendy trouser and frilly top at a fashion show. And for once, she wasn’t sitting in an official meeting. But this appearance too made for a great photo op.”

Ms Sabharwal’s advocate, Ms B. Rachana Reddy, sent the five-page legal notice to Outlook’s editor-in-chief, Mr Krishna Prasad, based in New Delhi and its Hyderabad-based assistant editor, Ms Madhavi Tata.

“I am yet to receive the notice. No comments on the issue,” Ms Tata said, when contacted. “Sabharwal's hard work, dedication and her excellence at her chosen profession are washed away by the mere fact of her being an attractive, young and successful woman who has also accomplished quite a lot professionally, owing to her dedication and perseverance,” it added.

Ms Sabharwal’s lawyer said that since damage to her client’s professional and personal image was already done, she demanded a public apology from Outlook that was visible and of the same dimensions and verbiage as the frivolous and vexatious article.

“Public apology cannot be a non descript formal apology in a tiny section of the magazine, but a detailed apology that meets the outrage and hurt that her client has been subjected to, including addressing issues of female professional and Outlook’s sexist attitude,” it added.

She warned that if the apology was not carried in the next edition or in 15 days, she would take civil as well as criminal action besides claiming exemplary damages including Rs 15,000 as legal costs.

Born in 1977 and having graduated from St. Francis College, Begumpet, the 2001 batch IAS officer had cracked the UPSC exam and secured 4th rank at the age of 22.