Court reserves order on Rita Joshi's bail petition

A local court today reserved its order after an in-camera hearing on the bail application of UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who is currently in judicial custody for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati.

The order was reserved by additional district judge(II) Sudha Sharma. It was, however, not clear as to when she would pronounce her order.

Earlier, the petition, which was listed by the judge yesterday for hearing at 1030 hours today, could not be taken up following a call to strike work by the Bar Council, Allahabad.

Defence counsel, Anand Mohan Gupta had said, "We are in constant touch with the District Bar Association, and seeking their permission so that we can argue the case."

60-year-old Joshi had approached the Additional District Judge (II) after chief judicial magistrate KK Shrivastava had turned down her bail plea and remanded her to judicial custody for 14 days. The bail petition was posted for today by Sharma as the case diary could not be submitted by the police yesterday.

Joshi, who was arrested on Wednesday night, has been booked under section 153 A (delivering inflammatory speeches) and section 109 of IPC (using abusive language) besides provisions of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for making allegedly making defamatory remarks against Mayawati in connection with her government's compensation to rape victims.