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LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry asked the federal government on Thursday to keep the name of US national Raymond Davis, who has confessed to killing two young men, on the exit control list till the disposal of identical petitions challenging his possible handover and immunity status.
Meanwhile, a judicial magistrate sent Davis to jail on a 14-day judicial remand in a case relating to carrying illegal arms.
The LHC chief justice observed that the case could be decided only after the submission of a certificate on the issue of immunity.
At the request of Deputy Attorney General Naveed Inayat Malik, the court allowed the federal government to submit a detailed reply by March 14, but restrained it from extraditing the accused abroad.
Earlier, Advocate General Khwaja Harris submitted a report on behalf of the Punjab government and said that it was up to the federal government to resolve the question of immunity of the accused from criminal prosecution.
APP adds: Inayat Malik informed the court that the name of Raymond Davis had been placed on the ECL and all concerned, including the directors general of FIA, Passport Directorate, ISI, Military Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau, had been notified.
Khawaja Harris said that a separate petition should be filed for the purpose, adding that the provincial government had fulfilled all legal requirements in the case. He said that three separate FIRs had been registered and investigation by police proved that Davis was guilty.
Mr Harris said that a serious question had arisen regarding the status of Raymond Davis. First it was notified that he was a member of the consulate, but later it was contended by the American mission that he was a technical staff.
REMAND: Judicial magistrate Muhammad Aneeq Anwar Chaudhry sent Raymond Davis to jail on a 14-day judicial remand in a case relating to carrying illegal arms.
The judge issued the order through a video-conference proceeding arranged at the office of district and sessions judge. The hearing was delayed by about four hours because of fault in the phone line and lack of expertise among DSJ staff to operate hi-tech equipment for video-conferencing.
Additional Prosecutor General Abdul Samad, who appeared on behalf of the Punjab government, contended that the accused had not yet submitted a surety bond of Rs100,000 regarding his bail in case No 49/2011 under section 13/20/65 of the arms ordinance.
Davis, who took part in the video-conference from Kotlakhpat jail, said ‘yes’ when the judge asked him whether he knew about his trial through the video link. The judge asked if he had anything to say. Davis said ‘no’.
Inspector Munir Ahmed, the investigation officer in the case, requested the court to send the accused to jail on judicial remand. The court accepted it and adjourned the hearing till March 3.
The APG later filed in the court of additional district and sessions judge Yousuf Aujla, who is hearing the double-murder case, an application seeking trial of the accused in jail because of security concerns.
The judge sought comments of the state on the issue.
Meanwhile, another additional district and sessions judge sought comments from the Lytton Road Police SHO on a petition seeking addition of section 7 of the Ant-Terrorism Act to the double-murder FIR No 47/2011 registered against Davis under section 302.
The petitioner contended that Davis had committed a heinous crime that was cognisable under ATA sections.
