Shimla, Nov. 28 -- Granting relief to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Churah, Hans Raj, 42, the local court in Chamba on Thursday granted him anticipatory bail in POCSO case. "Bail is a rule and jail is an exception," said the court of special judge, Chamba, Preeti Thakur on Thursday, while while adding, "In the matter in hand, the FIR has been lodged after a long delay of the alleged occurrence. There is no explanation in this regard. There is also no medical evidence in support thereof." "I am of the opinion that prima facie, it appears to be a case of consensual relationship, if any, between two adults which might not have worked according to the victim. In the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, this court finds that it is a fit case where judicial discretion to admit the petitioner (Hans Raj) on bail is required to be exercised in his favour. Also, there is no reasonable ground to believe that the bail petitioner would misuse his liberty or would influence the witnesses etc. or would thwart the process of law," ruled the court. In the detailed order, the court held, "Here, it appears prima facie that the FIR is a pressure tactic to force the bail petitioner (Hans Raj) to arrive on a certain settlement with her. Despite having strained relations with the bail petitioner and knowing fully well that he is a married man, the repeated sexual indulgences of the victim with him coupled with the unexplained delay in lodging FIR, at this stage, creates doubt in the veracity of the victim." The court order read, "In the instant case, the victim is an educated major girl and the bail petitioner was well known to her. By no stretch of imagination, it can be believed that she did not know the consequences of what she was doing". The court said, "No doubt, the investigation conducted till date has revealed the presence of bail petitioner in various hotels/rest houses mentioned in the FIR by the complainant, however this very fact i.e. presence of the bail petitioner in the mentioned places, do not raise the presumption of the commission of the alleged offences by him. The petitioner is a renowned political figure, who had also remained deputy speaker of state legislative assembly. His visits and stays at various places/hotels/rest houses cannot be doubted, because being political figure, he is expected to be available and present at various places. In so far as the victim's knowledge of the visits/stays of bail petitioner in the aforesaid places/hotels/rest houses is concerned, the same also does not raise any presumption against him since the father of the victim, being attached to the organisation might have had every information regarding such visits." "Moreover, it cannot be ignored that sometimes influential persons in a bid to implicate their rivals in false cases for the purpose of disgracing them or for any other ulterior motive, join hands with the persons having inimical relations," read the detailedcourt order running into 18 pages. The court held, "Since the victim is an adult educated lady, having sound mind, therefore there appears no question of deceiving her or inducing her into physical relation by the bail petitioner. More so, the victim despite being allegedly sexually assaulted by the bail petitioner since February 2025 has remained silent till November 2025. Having already raised allegations against the bail petitioner in the month of August 2024, the victim has repeatedly indulged herself with him in the alleged acts. By no stretch of imagination, the victim can be believed to be unaware of the consequences of her action," After getting relief, Hans Raj, said, "I have full faith in the judicial system and from day one I have been maintaining that justice will be done."...