The Telangana government has approached the high court seeking its intervention against AI-generated content allegedly being used to spread misinformation about the 400 acres of land at Kancha Gachibowli.

The high court on Monday deferred the hearing on the case related to the land to 24 April and allowed the respondents to file their counters and reports.

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Chief minister A Revanth Reddy had directed his officers to bring the matter before the court to seek action. Today, the counsel for the Forest Department raised the matter of AI-generated fake content before the court, which asked it to file a counter.

The police are likely to file a counter to the “fake” posts. There were AI-generated photos giving the impression of a burning forest with deer and peacocks fleeing the site in desperation while another, taken elsewhere, of an injured deer passed off as that of Kancha Gachibowli.

Two days ago, a statement from the chief minister’s office (CMO) named Union Minister for Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy, former minister and BRS leader Jagadish Reddy, social media influencer Dhruv Rathee, celebrities like John Abraham, Dia Mirza, and Raveena Tandon, who had allegedly sent out wrong messages after uploading the fake videos and photos on social media believing them to be true.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was briefed by police officials about the use of this AI-generated content during a review meeting where he inquired about the massive backlash over the 400 acres. They told him that a number of projects were developed on the land that comes under survey number 25, including the Indian School for Business, Gachibowli stadium, IIIT, and other private and government buildings in the past 25 years, but no environmental concerns were raised at that time.

The “fake” videos and AI-generated photos of the injured deer on the run, cries of peacocks hit with bulldozers misled the entire society. This prompted the chief minister to direct officials to appeal to the court to order an inquiry into the fake AI content that was used to mislead people.

Actor Dia Mirza wrote on her ‘X’ handle that the chief minister had claimed that she had used Fake AI-generated images/videos in support of the students’ protest against the auction of 400 acres and to protect its biodiversity. “This is an absolutely false statement. I have not posted a single image or video that is AI-generated. The media and the Telangana government should verify their facts before making such claims,” said the actor.

Meanwhile, the Gachibowli Police issued notices to BRS social media in-charges Krishank and Konatham Dileep over the AI content on Kancha Gachibowli. Apart from the petition filed by Uday Krishna of Vata Foundation, retired scientist Kalpala Babu Rao and the HCU students’ union have approached the high court on the same issue. The court deferred the hearing as the Supreme Court intervened in the matter suo moto. The AICC in-charge of Telangana also held a meeting yesterday with university students and civil society groups to resolve the issue.