A senior bureaucrat from Telangana sued Outlook magazine on Wednesday for describing her as "eye candy".
Smita Sabharwal, additional secretary to the Telangana chief minister, told TV channels that she found the remarks against her in a recent post in the magazine "sexist" and "demoralising."
"It is a matter of professional pride. I have spent 14 long years in service. The write up hurt very badly. It made me think if they can do this to a bureaucrat, who is doing a serious job, possibly women across will be subjected to this sort of yellow journalism... and we must step up and put an end to it," Sabharwal told NDTV.
The magazine, without naming Sabharwal in its article, said she makes a "fashion statement" with her saris and serves as "eye candy" at meetings
It also carried an illustration puportedly showing her walk the ramp at a fashion show with chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and other ministers leering at her.
38-year old Sabharwal told reporters that the illustration was about her attendance at a recent fashion show in Hyderabad.
"What disturbs me the most is the suggestion that a woman is able to rise in her career because of her beauty. It is very demoralising for the thousands of women stepping out of their homes," she told BBC Hindi.
{{/usCountry}}"What disturbs me the most is the suggestion that a woman is able to rise in her career because of her beauty. It is very demoralising for the thousands of women stepping out of their homes," she told BBC Hindi.
{{/usCountry}}The magazine has not reportedly received any legal notice so far.
Hyderabad police said two city-based advocates also filed a complaint against the magazine alleging the article made "objectionable" remarks against a woman IAS officer and "damaged the reputation" of the chief minister.
"No case has been registered so far. We made general diary (GD) entry of the complaint and are consulting legal authorities. Further action will be taken based on the legal opinion," inspector S Krishna Prasad told PTI.
Sabharwal found a lot of support on Twitter with many criticising the magazine for its "sexist" stand.
(With agency inputs)