The Telangana High Court on Thursday granted regular bail to Pandey Bhagirath in the POCSO case, on condition of furnishing $1 lakh with two guarantees and certain conditions, news agency ANI reported.
Bhagirath is the son of Union Minister of State Bandi Sanjay Kumar. This comes as part of the ongoing proceedings in the case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.
Earlier, public prosecutor Bali Nageswara Rao opposed granting bail to the accused and said he might influence witnesses and tamper with evidence if he is released on bail.
He added that the police would file an indictment.
The petitioner’s lawyer said that Bagherat had been in judicial custody for more than 40 days and requested his release on bail.
Last month, a special POCSO court in Malkagiri, Hyderabad granted interim bail to Bhagirath for 7 days to enable him to appear and attend his final examinations.
The case against Pandey Bhagirat
The case against Pandey Bhagirath centers around an FIR registered on May 8 at Bethshirabad police station in Telangana, which includes charges under Sections 74 and 75 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act for outrage of modesty and sexual harassment, as well as Sections 11 and 12 of the POCSO Act.
According to the complaint filed by the victim’s mother, the accused allegedly entered into a relationship with the complainant’s 17-year-old daughter in June 2025 under false promises of marriage, subjected her to indecent physical acts, and pressured her to consume alcohol between October 2025 and January 2026.
According to the FIR, after the relationship ended on January 7, the girl allegedly tried to harm herself twice later that month.
Counter complaint
Pandey Bhagirath described the case against him as a “counter reaction” to the criminal complaint he filed against the girl’s family just hours before the POCSO case was filed. His complaint at Karimnagar City Police Station-2 alleged that the girl’s parents tried to blackmail him $5 crores from him by threatening their daughter to commit suicide if the money is not paid.
Bhagirath was taken into custody on the night of May 16 after the Telangana High Court refused to grant him interim protection from arrest. Police confirmed that he was arrested on the outskirts of Hyderabad, while his lawyers claimed that he surrendered voluntarily and cooperated with the investigation. After his arrest, a judge ordered him to be held in pretrial detention.
Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar had then said that his son was produced before the police in accordance with the law and asserted that “everyone is equal before the law.”
