HC asks LJP MP Prince Raj to respond to plea challenging his anticipatory bail in rape case

The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought the response of Lok Janshkati Party (LJP) MP Prince Raj on a plea by a woman challenging anticipatory bail granted to him in a rape case.

Justice Yogesh Khanna issued notice to Raj on the plea by the complainant of the rape case and listed the matter for further hearing on February 17 next year.

The woman has challenged a trial court’s September 25 order granting anticipatory bail to the politician on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and a surety of the like amount on the ground that there was an “unusual delay” in lodging of FIR against Raj by her.

Raj, the nephew of the late Ram Vilas Paswan and cousin of Chirag Paswan, is a Member of Parliament (MP) from Samastipur in Bihar.

The trial court had directed Raj to join the investigation as and when required by the investigating officer (IO) and not “threaten, pressurize or contact the prosecutrix in any manner whatsoever, that is, through phone, WhatsApp, email, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, etc.” Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa and lawyer Nitesh Rana, appearing for Raj in the trial court, had contended that it was a case of honey trap and extortion and that the politician was being implicated in a frivolous case.

The trial court, in its order, had noted that the complainant and her male friend were extorting money and blackmailing the politician since 2020.

It also took into account an audio recording in which the male friend could be heard threatening to upload objectionable videos and pictures of the accused on social media and noted that the call, according to Raj, was made to his relative.

The court had also noted that the transcripts of another audio recording show the alleged victim had told her friend that whatever happened between her and the accused “was as per mutual understanding and with the consent of each other.” The court had further observed that the FIR was lodged by the woman after 16-17 months of the alleged incident.

It said that the possibility of “falsely implicating” Raj could not be ruled out and the custodial interrogation of the accused was not required in this case as nothing was to be recovered from him.

The trial court had also noted that the accused was having clean antecedents and the possibility of him fleeing from justice was also quite remote as he was a sitting Lok Sabha member and has got deep roots in the society.

The Delhi Police registered an FIR on September 9 against Prince Raj on the directions of a court here.

The woman, who claimed that she was an LJP worker, has accused Raj of raping her while she was unconscious.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)