Patiala, Dec. 23 -- After a local court in Patiala declared him a proclaimed offender (PO) in a rape case, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra alleged that local judges function under pressure from the state government and that he is confident of a reprieve from the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC).

Judicial magistrate (first class) Harjot Singh Gill had declared Pathanmajra a proclaimed offender on Saturday. The magistrate had also ordered the initiation of separate proceedings under Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which empowers courts to attach movable and immovable properties of absconding accused persons to compel their appearance. The MLA has moved the HC with a bail plea.

In an inter...