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 interview with a Punjab-based web channel, Pathanmajra, who is currently in Adelaide, Australia, said that such proceedings are routine when an accused fails to appear before the court within 90 days. "When I get bail from the HC, I will no longer remain a PO," he claimed. "The case in which I have been declared a PO will not stand once it is heard by the HC. At the local level, judges remain under pressure from the state government.These issues do not arise with judges of the HC or the Supreme Court. Therefore, I am hopeful that the decision will go in my favour in the HC." Pathanmajra, who had earlier revolted against his own party, the AAP, over alleged mismanagement of floods, said that he had been approached by all three opposition parties - the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal, and the Bharatiya JanataParty....