Hyderabad, May 14 The Telangana High Court on Thursday said it would pass orders on the interim anticipatory bail petition of Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar's son in a POCSO case on May 15.
Bandi Sai Bageerath's counsel sought interim protection from arrest to his client till the anticipatory bail is considered, saying his client wants to assist the police and join the investigation by submitting materials and documents.
The victim's counsel said he wants to file the counter application.
After hearing the arguments, Justice T Madhavi Devi said she would hear the victim before passing the orders on Bageerath's interim anticipatory bail plea and adjourned the hearing on the anticipatory bail petition to next week.
The High Court also directed the police to verify with regard to the two different birth certificates of the victim and file the details before it.
Bageerath moved the High Court seeking anticipatory bail in the case.
The case was registered under relevant sections of BNS and POCSO Act on May 8 against Bageerath based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl, who alleged that Bageerath was in a relationship with her daughter and sexually harassed her.
After recording the statement of the victim, more stringent sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act were invoked in the case.
Bageerath's counsel argued that the complaint made against his client was false and frivolous and the POCSO Act does not apply in the case.
He contended that in a chargesheet filed by the police in 2021 for underaged driving, the alleged victim's age was recorded as 15 years.
He further said the birth certificates that are placed before the court showed different certificates (2008 and 2010) of the victim and that there is a great amount of confusion about the age of the victim.
As per the allegation, the incident happened in December last year, but no complaint was filed till May 8, he said.
The victim's counsel contended that Bageerath is absconding.
He said the father of the accused is a union minister and when the victim's family went to Pet Basheerabad police station to lodge the complaint it was not registered till night even as information was passed on and the accused filed complaint against the victim and her family just to show that it was a counter blast to this case.
Bageerath had also lodged a complaint with the police in Karimnagar, alleging that the girl, who had become acquainted with him, had invited him to family functions and group gatherings. An FIR was registered based on Bageerath’s complaint.
In the complaint, Bageerath stated that, believing the girl’s family to be trustworthy, he accompanied them on visits to certain holy places as part of a group of friends.
He further alleged that the girl and her parents later pressured him to marry her. When he rejected the proposal, the girl’s parents allegedly demanded money and threatened to file false complaints against him if he failed to pay.
Bageerath further alleged that, out of fear, he paid Rs 50,000 to the girl’s father, but the family later demanded Rs 5 crore. He also claimed that they threatened that the girl’s mother would die by suicide if he failed to comply.
