The Telangana High Court refused interim protection from arrest to Bandi Bhageerath in a POCSO case, with Justice T Madhavi Devi observing she was not inclined to grant interim relief after examining the victim’s statement.
In a setback for Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s son, Bandi Bhageerath, the Telangana High Court on Friday refused to grant him interim protection from arrest in a case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
At the hearing of Bhageerath’s anticipatory bail plea, Justice T. Madhavi Devi said she was not inclined to grant any interim relief at this stage of the case. The matter was argued late into the night.
The judge observed,
“I have gone through the statement of the victim, though not in detail but cursorily, and at this stage I’m not inclined to grant any interim order,”
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The Court said that orders would be passed on the next working day of the vacation bench. After hearing this, the petitioner’s counsel requested the Court to consider passing the final orders at the earliest.
The case began with a complaint filed by the mother of a 17-year-old girl. She alleged that Bhageerath was in a relationship with her daughter and subjected her to sexual harassment. Based on the complaint, the police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against him on May 8 under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
During the proceedings, Justice Devi also raised concern about what she described as a “smear campaign” on social media related to the case, and said she was upset by developments taking place online.
The Court also asked the complainant’s counsel whether there were any objections to the case being heard by the vacation bench. The counsel responded that he had no objections and requested that the hearing continue.
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Bhageerath’s counsel argued that the High Court can exercise inherent powers to grant interim bail even while the anticipatory bail application is pending. The defence also referred to the complainant’s statement, which, it was said, indicated that the accused and the girl had been in a relationship since 2025 and that they had reportedly maintained cordial relations.
Opposing any interim protection, counsel for the complainant submitted that Bhageerath’s father, Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar, is a politically influential figure. The argument was that granting protection from arrest could create a risk of tampering with evidence.
Separately, Bhageerath also approached the police in Karimnagar, alleging that the girl’s family attempted to extort Rs 5 crore from him by threatening to implicate him in a false case.
Police had issued a notice requiring Bhageerath to appear before the investigating officer on May 13. He did not report on that date and instead sent a letter to the investigating officer seeking two additional days to appear before the authorities.
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