Indian civil servant sues Outlook magazine for calling her ‘eye candy’

An Indian bureaucrat is suing Outlook magazine for describing her as “eye candy” in a recent article, and publishing an illustration that showed her on a catwalk with her political bosses leering at her.

Smita Sabharwal, 38, who works in the office of the chief minister of Telangana state, said the described the article and caricature as “yellow journalism” and that they “hurt very badly” in an interview with NDTV.

The Outlook article, which didn’t name her, said,”She makes a fashion statement with her lovely saris and serves as ‘eye candy’ at meetings.” It added that what “she exactly does is a puzzle”.




“It made me think that if they can do this to a bureaucrat who is doing a serious job, possibly women across would be subjected to think kind of yellow journalism and it is high time we step up and put an end to it,” Sabharwal told NDTV.

She added: “If we continue to encourage and indulge in this kind of journalism, the world opinion remains the same about how we view ourselves and how we our women. To me, this is a personal agenda in the sense that I want Outlook to apologise to women across the country, across the world.”

Indian netizens supported her call for the magazine to apologize, calling the article and caricature “shameful” “in very poor taste”.

Outlook published a notice on its website that it has not received any legal notice from the bureaucrat, but has already taken the article down.

“Outlook wishes to clarify that the said piece was part of satire carried in the magazine in the usual course, was not intended to be derisive or derogatory, and was meant to be received in a lighter vein. That said, being conscious of sensitivities, Outlook has taken down the satirical piece entirely,” it said.

“Outlook expresses regret if any offence has been taken.”

It added that the author of the article “has been subjected to vile and personal attacks, and her physical safety has been threatened.”