Telangana High Court had directed IAS officer and Chief Minister’s Secretary Smita Sabharwal to refund ₹ 15 lakh she was granted by the State government for filing a defamation suit against a magazine, observing that the ‘grant was not for any public purpose’.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar, delivering verdict in two PIL pleas and a writ petition on the matter, said the IAS officer should return the money to the government within 90 days. “If the amount is not refunded within 90 days of the order, the same should be recovered from Ms. Smita Sabharwal within a month thereafter,” the judgement said.
Nearly seven years ago, the IAS officer (then additional secretary to CM) appeared on the ramp along with her husband Akun Sabharwal (an IPS officer) during a fashion show organised by fashion designer Abhishek Dutta. A weekly English magazine, published an article with the heading ‘No boring Babu’. Certain comments were made in the article on the IAS officer and the CM.
