The Telangana High Court on Thursday granted regular bail to Bandi Bhagirath in a POCSO case, subject to furnishing ₹1 lakh with two sureties and certain conditions, news agency ANI reported.
Bhagirath is the son of Union minister of state Bandi Sanjay Kumar. The order comes as part of ongoing proceedings in the case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Earlier, Public Prosecutor Palle Nageshwara Rao had opposed granting bail to the accused and argued that he might influence witnesses and tamper with evidence if released on bail.
The police are going to file a chargesheet, he further submitted.
The petitioner's counsel argued that Bageerath had been in judicial custody for more than 40 days and sought for granting bail.
Last month, a special POCSO court in Hyderabad's Malkajgiri granted Bhagirath interim bail for 7 days to enable him to appear for and attend his final examinations.
The case against Bandi Bhagirath
The case against Bandi Bhagirath centres on an FIR registered on May 8 at Telangana's Petbasheerabad Police Station, which includes charges under Sections 74 and 75 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for outraging modesty and sexual harassment, as well as Sections 11 and 12 of the POCSO Act.
{{/usCountry}}The case against Bandi Bhagirath centres on an FIR registered on May 8 at Telangana's Petbasheerabad Police Station, which includes charges under Sections 74 and 75 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for outraging modesty and sexual harassment, as well as Sections 11 and 12 of the POCSO Act.
{{/usCountry}}According to the complaint filed by the mother of the victim, the accused allegedly entered into a relationship with the complainant's 17-year-old daughter in June 2025 under false promises of marriage and subjected her to inappropriate physical acts and pressure to consume alcohol between October 2025 and January 2026.
According to the FIR, after the relationship ended on January 7, the girl allegedly attempted self-harm on two occasions later that month.
Counter complaint
Bandi Bhagirath had characterised the case against him as a "counterblast" to a criminal complaint he filed against the girl's family just hours before the POCSO case was lodged. His complaint at Karimnagar-II Town Police Station alleged that the girl's parents attempted to extort ₹5 crores from him by threatening that their daughter would commit suicide if the money was not paid.
Bhagirath was taken into custody on the night of May 16 after the Telangana high court declined to grant him interim protection from arrest. Police maintained that he was apprehended on the outskirts of Hyderabad, while his lawyers claimed he had voluntarily surrendered and cooperated with the investigation. Following his arrest, a magistrate remanded him to judicial custody.
Union minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar had then said that his son had appeared before the police in accordance with the law and stressed that “everyone is equal before the law.”