NEW DELHI: Lok Janshakti Party MP Prince Raj, seeking protection from arrest in a rape case, accused the complainant of extortion before a Delhi court on Wednesday.
Prince, nephew of late Ram Vilas Paswan and cousin of Chirag Paswan, made the allegations before special judge Vikas Dhull who started hearing his anticipatory bail application afresh on Wednesday.
Special judge M K Nagpal on Tuesday, when he was scheduled to pass an order on the application, recused himself from hearing the matter citing personal reasons.
He sent the matter back to the District Judge, who assigned the case to a new court today.
The counsel appearing for Raj, a Member of Parliament from Samastipur in Bihar, told the court that the alleged victim and her male friend were extorting money and blackmailing his client since 2020.
Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa told the court that the woman and her friend had demanded Rs 1 crore and threatened to file a false complaint against Paswan if he failed to pay the money.
A case was earlier filed in that regard on February 10 this year in Parliament police station, in which the woman and her associate were granted anticipatory bail in July, he said.
Advocate Nitesh Rana, also representing Raj, told the court that on May 31, meanwhile, the woman filed a complaint against his client for allegedly raping her.
He said she later approached the court seeking registration of an FIR against Paswan, following which the court had sought an Action Taken Report (ATR) from police.
In its ATR, the police submitted before the court that nothing was found on her complaint and that it was a matter of extortion, he said.
The police opposed the application and said Raj's custodial interrogation was required in the matter.
Police submitted before the court that it needed his custody to recover the alleged video clips having objectionable content as claimed by the alleged victim.
The court will hear the matter further on Thursday.
Delhi Police filed an FIR on September 9 against Prince Raj on the directions of a court here.
The woman, who claims that she was an LJP worker, has accused Raj of raping her while she was unconscious.