No pardon for Rita, says Maya

Lucknow
July 17: The UP Chief Minister, Ms Mayawati, said on Friday that though the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, had expressed regret over the statement made by the UPCC chief, Mrs Rita Bahuguna Joshi, she was in no mood to pardon Mrs Joshi.
“Mrs Sonia Gandhi was forced to condemn UPCC president’s statement after I questioned her silence on the issue on Thursday. She knows that the dalits are extremely upset over the statement and she expressed regret due to political compulsions. However, she has not yet taken any action against Mrs Rita Bahuguna Joshi. I want to clarify that the offence remains unpardonable and legal action will continue to take place,” the chief minister said at a press conference here.
However, Mrs Joshi may have to spend a few more nights in jail since the Moradabad court could not hear her bail petition on Friday due to strike by the lawyers. The hearing on Mrs Joshi’s bail petition, which was scheduled to take place on Friday morning, could not be held as work in the local court was suspended following a call to strike work by the UP Bar Council which is opposing the imposition of service tax on lawyers. Mrs Rita Bahuguna Joshi had appro-ached the court after the chief judicial magistrate, Mr K.K. Srivastava had turned down her bail plea.