Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Sunday, 25 May 2025 filed a defamation suit before the vacation bench of the City Civil Court, Hyderabad, claiming ₹1 crore in damages against 23 defendants — including social media platforms, media houses, journalists, and digital accounts — over what he termed a coordinated campaign against him in connection with a POCSO case in which his son Bandi Bhageerath was recently arrested.

What the Suit Alleges

Sanjay contends that the defendants collectively ran a 'sustained and malicious campaign of false, defamatory and misleading publications' across various media and digital platforms, in violation of his Constitutional right to reputation and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. He alleged that the campaign was designed to falsely implicate him personally and politically target his family.

According to the petition, the defendants — spanning media houses, YouTube channels, digital publications, and individual social media accounts — published sensationalised articles, misleading thumbnails, fabricated posts, and speculative commentary to create a false public perception that the minister was personally connected with, influencing, or shielding the alleged acts involving his son.

Scale of the Alleged Campaign

The petition cited 50 posts on X, 99 Instagram postings, and dozens of YouTube links as evidence of the alleged defamatory content. Among the 23 named defendants are tech giants Google, Meta, and X, alongside several Telugu news channels. The petition also names political parties Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Indian National Congress (Congress), their leaders, and individual journalists.

The Minister's Position

Sanjay stated that the defamatory publications remain accessible online and constitute a continuing wrong causing irreparable reputational injury. He argued that owing to his Constitutional office and public stature, the campaign has resulted in grave professional embarrassment, mental agony, humiliation, and political harm. This suit follows an earlier approach to the City Civil Court seeking directions to defendants to remove the allegedly defamatory content.

Background and Context

The defamation action comes in the wake of the arrest of Sanjay's son Bandi Bhageerath under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The case has drawn significant media attention in Telangana, with coverage spanning mainstream Telugu news channels and social media. Notably, this is not the first time a senior political figure has invoked civil defamation proceedings to challenge digital media coverage — a trend that has accelerated in India as social media amplifies political narratives during sensitive legal proceedings. All allegations in the petition are as yet unproven before the court.