NCP says HC judgement on dance bars is ''unfortunate''

Mumbai, Apr 12 (UNI) The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today described the decision of Bombay High Court striking down the ban imposed on dance bars across Maharashtra as ''unfortunate''.

Talking to reporters, party spokesman Dr Ratnakar Mahajan said there was rare political consensus on the issue which was supported by the people at large.

''While deciding on such a matter, it would have been better had the court considered the social aspects equally seriously along with the legal technicalities'', he added.

He said the State Government's option to go in for appeal in the Supreme Court is open.

BJP leader Gopinath Munde blamed Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil for the lacunae in the legal issues concerning the decision to ban dance bars.

Mr Patil's office in Vidhan Bhavan said the Deputy Chief Minister is expected to make a statement in the legislature tomorrow.

Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Ramdas Kadam described the High Court verdict as ''failure'' of the State Government.

He said Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his deputy R R Patil should resign owning moral responsibility for the ''failure''.

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