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Bandi Bageerath, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, has been denied interim protection from arrest in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) case against him by the Telangana High Court. Bageerath has been charged with alleged sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl. While Bageerath’s lawyer had previously contested the girl’s age, the state’s counsel said her date of birth had been verified and she was indeed a minor.
Justice T Madhavi Devi said that she hadn’t gone through the victim’s statement recorded by the police in detail, and refused to grant any interim order, in a late-night hearing that started around 9 pm and concluded close to midnight. She said that she would only pass orders on Bageerath's anticipatory bail plea on the next vacation court day. The Telangana High Court is observing its annual summer vacation from May 7 to June 5.
Before the hearing commenced, Justice Madhavi Devi spoke about a “smear campaign” against her on social media, LiveLaw reported. While stating that she was not shying away from hearing the matter, she said, “But this is not done. Trying to intimidate judges.”
Senior advocate and YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP S Niranjan Reddy appeared for Bageerath before the Telangana High Court.
Justice Madhavi Devi asked Niranjan Reddy, the victim’s mother’s counsel Pappu Nageshwar Rao, and public Prosecutor Palle Nageshwar Rao if they had any problem with her hearing the case, offering to recuse herself if they had any objection, according to The Hindu.
Niranjan Reddy reportedly argued that this may be a case of “cheating” and not penetrative sexual assault as alleged.
Earlier on May 14, Niranjan Reddy had argued that there was reason to doubt whether the girl was a minor, citing a chargesheet in an underage driving case against the girl from 2021 in which her age was reportedly mentioned as 15. According to reports, the girl has two birth certificates carrying different years of birth – 2008 and 2010 – though in either case she would still have been a minor at the time of the alleged offences.
When the judge brought up the discrepancy in the birth certificate on May 15, the state’s counsel said that the date of birth had been verified and the girl is still a minor – 17 years 3 months old.
Bageerath has been absconding since the FIR against him was registered on May 8, based on a complaint from the girl’s mother.
Advocate Niranjan Reddy had told the court earlier on May 14 that his client would appear before the police if granted interim protection by the court. The advocate also reportedly said the ‘conduct’ of the victim was relevant to the case, even as BJP supporters on social media circulated images of the girl and her family, revealing their identity in violation of the POCSO Act.
Visuals showing the girl and her family interacting with Bageerath have been circulated, in what critics have described as an attempt to malign them, using them to discredit the allegations of sexual assault.
On the same day, the mother issued a press statement asking people not to disclose her daughter’s identity or any private material related to the case. She also sought protection for her family from targeting and intimidation, and called for an independent inquiry.
On May 15, the Cyberabad police registered an FIR against people circulating visuals of the minor and her parents.
In her complaint to the police, she had alleged that Bageerath met the girl through mutual friends in June 2025 and allegedly sexually abused or assaulted her on at least four occasions between October and December 2025.
Police initially booked Bageerath under charges of assault or using criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty and sexual harassment, along with provisions of the POCSO Act. After recording the girl’s statement, they later added the charge of aggravated sexual assault under POCSO.
Bageerath also filed a counter complaint against the girl’s family on May 8, alleging blackmail and extortion by threatening to file a false harassment complaint against him.