Telangana HC reserves order on anticipatory bail plea of Bandi Sai Bageerath in POCSO case

The Telangana High Court has reserved orders on the anticipatory bail plea of Bandi Sai Bageerath in a POCSO case registered at Petbasheerabad police station. Justice T Madhavi Devi heard arguments late into the night, with counsels citing Supreme Court and High Court precedents.

By Our Legal Correspondent

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday reserved orders on the anticipatory bail petition of Bandi Sai Bageerath, in the high-profile POCSO case registered against him in Pet Basheerabad police station.

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Justice T Madhavi Devi who heard the prolonged arguments till late in the night said the orders would be delivered in the next sitting of the vacation court.

The High Court saw intense arguments between the counsels who put up their arguments for and against the grant of an anticipatory bail.

The arguments, which began at 9 p.m continued till 11.30 p.m, saw the counsels quoting various Supreme Court and high court orders on whether an anticipatory bail could be granted in a POCSO case.

Before the arguments began, Justice Madhavi Devi referred to what she termed as a ‘smear campaign’ unleashed against the judiciary in social media and sought to know from the public prosecutor, the defense counsel and the counsel representing the victim whether they had confidence in her.

She told the counsels that if any of them had any reservation about her, she would not mind recusing herself. However, three counsels have asserted that they did not have any such reservations.

The Public Prosecutor told the judge that he had already brought the smear campaign to the notice of the Hyderabad police commissioner. The city police would launch an investigation into the smear campaign and initiate action.

When Justice Madhavi Devi said that immediate orders could not be issued, the defense counsel pleaded for an order to the effect that at least till the verdict was given, there should not be any coercive action against Bandi Sai Bageerath.

However, this was strongly opposed by the counsel representing the victim girl who pointed out that such a relief could not be given as the vacation court was only hearing arguments about the anticipatory bail. Consequently, the court declared that the order would be given on the next sitting of the Vacation Bench, that is Thursday next.