The Telangana government on Monday moved the high court seeking action against AI-generated content allegedly used to spread false narratives in the issue of the Kancha Gachibowli land, while the state police simultaneously filed cases against BRS leaders, including social media convener Manne Krishank, in the issue, people familiar with the matter said.
State police began the crackdown against those who allegedly posted fake pictures and videos using artificial intelligence on social media regarding the felling of trees in the disputed lands at Kancha Gachibowli, adjacent to University of Hyderabad, on the instructions of chief minister A Revanth Reddy following a high-level review meeting held on Saturday to discuss the “real reasons behind the controversy,” people in the know said.
The Gachibowli police issued notices to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) social media convener Manne Krishank asking him to appear before the investigating officer on April 9, 10, and 11 to give an explanation on why he had posted fake messages with AI images on social media about the destruction of forests in Kancha Gachibowli lands, driving away deer and peacocks.
The police said they filed cases against Krishank and other BRS leaders including Konatham Dileep and Thomas Augustine on April 3, based on a complaint lodged by National Student Union of India (NSUI) leader B Arundwaj Reddy. The BRS leaders have been booked under sections 353(1) (b), 353 (1) (c), and others, under the BNS accordingly.
The government refuted allegations of destroying the 400-acre green area in Kancha Gachibowli and encroaching on the natural habitat of peacocks and deer, claiming to the court that the issue was being “exploited” to create social unrest in the state through “fake news and social media” posts.
“The Supreme Court is seized of the matter. There is a different point of grave concern. This legal case is being turned into fake news, it is being used to tear apart the social fabric. They show peacocks and deer crossing, forests burning. Fake news is being generated to instil and inspire a certain kind of breakdown of social fabric,” senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, who appeared for the state, told the court.
The high court however, reminded Guruswamy that the state was not the petitioner in the case and said it should file a counter affidavit in court to say whatever it wished to. Guruswamy then said the Telangana police will file its written preliminary report by April 24, the next date of hearing.
The court was hearing two petitions filed by environmental organisation Vata Foundation ENPO, and retired scientist, Kalapala Babu Rao, challenge the Congress dispensation’s implementation of a Government Order that facilitates the transfer of the said land to the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation for the development of IT infrastructure. Senior counsel S Niranjan Reddy, who represents the petitioners, has maintained that the land should be recognised as a protected ecological zone.
On April 3, a Supreme Court bench led by justice Bhushan R Gavai expressed shock at the large-scale felling of trees across hundreds of acres in Kancha Gachibowli and ordered an immediate halt to all developmental activities in the area. The top court emphasised that “until further orders, no activity of any sort, except the protection of trees already existing, shall be undertaken by the state.”
