Victim is not minor: Union minister's son accused in POCSO case tells Telangana High Court

Bandi Sai Bageerath, the son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, told the Telangana High Court on Thursday that there was a dispute over the age of the victim who has accused him of sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. .The submission was made before Justice T Madhavi Devi by Senior Advocate S Niranjan Reddy, who represented the accused.Reddy said that in a chargesheet filed in relation to the same victim 5 years ago, the police had identified her age as 15 years. The charge in that case was of underage driving."If the police chargesheet is correct, then there is a reason for the Court to have some suspicion at this particular time of time, is the child really minor," Reddy said.He added there were multiple birth certificates of the victim."There is great amount of confusion about the age of this particular person with regard to whether she can be classified as a victim under POCSO Act," he said..The Court said that it would pass an order on Friday on the plea seeking interim protection.However, it also clarified that the complainant's counsel will be heard first. The Court also asked the police to verify the age of the victim."There is also a chargesheet which she says she was 15 years in 2021. All these things, the police can do verification," it added..Reddy argued that even if the Court does not consider the questions over her age at this stage, the victim admittedly is 17 years old. Her conduct at this stage and circumstances of the case would be a relevant factor for consideration of bail."There is absolutely nothing to show that any offence under POCSO was committed by me, especially the aggravated assault."He said that his client was originally only accused of sexual harassment, which is punishable with imprisonment below seven years. "They improved upon their case in the statement that they are giving thereafter, bringing in Section 5 and Section 6," he added.Reddy also said that the alleged relationship between the victim and the accused is stated to have started in June, with the last incident alleged to have taken place in December 2025. No complaint was filed till May 8, he added."The complainant specifically says that they were weighing legal options in March. The complaint is with full clear understanding of all legal aspects, refers to law, refers to judgments. It is such well informed complaint. It throws away any element of doubt with regard to correctness and veracity of the allegations made."He further submitted that before and after the alleged incidents, there was communication between the victim and the accused. There were telephone calls for 8 hours and 10 hours in the relevant time, the senior counsel added..The Court asked whether the accused was trying to make out a case that the POCSO Act could not have been invoked."Why should any interim protection be granted to you? How are you different from other accused? What is the urgency in your case?" it asked.Reddy urged the Court,"Le them not effect arrest. I have a case that I will be able to make out before the police that this complaint against me is completely false and frivolous. It would not come within the meaning of offence under POCSO.".Counsel appearing for the complainant said that the father of the accused was very influential as he is a minister in the Union government. He strongly opposed the prayer for interim protection of arrest and sought time to respond to the plea."There were several details that were not mentioned in the original complaint," the counsel said.He also argued that there appeared to be some "collusion" in the registration of the case. "No doubt there was some relationship between them but that does not mean that the boy can sleep over her," he added..Bageerath was booked on May 08 under various provisions of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and POCSO Act. Following recording of the victim’s statement before a magistrate, he has now been booked for aggravated sexual assault as defined under Section 5 of POCSO Act. Bageerath is stated to have been in a relationship with the victim since June 2025 and allegedly sexually abused her at least four times between October and December 2025, the Court was told today.