High court: CJ refuses to hear Davis case appeal

LHC CJ Ijaz Chaudhry refuses to take up petition challenging the release of American national Raymond Davis.

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhary refused to hear a petition challenging the acquittal and release of Raymond Davis by a trial court on Friday. The chief justice referred the petition to another judge.

The petition was filed by Barrister Iqbal Jaffery. Jaffery said the trail court had acted in violation of Sharia law, as the widow of the deceased Fahim was opposed to pardoning Davis. “The widow committed suicide in protest against a possible forced settlement,” he said, adding that the trial court had acted hastily.

LHC chief justice has been accused in a section of the media of having prior knowledge of the Diyat settlement being effected between Raymond and the heirs of the deceased while disposing of the four petitions seeking a restraining order against his possible release by way of diplomatic immunity.

On Friday, the chief justice refused to hear the petition observing that he had already heard several petitions against Davis’s alleged ‘diplomatic immunity’. The chief justice referred the petition to Justice Iftikhar Hussain, who will determine ‘maintainability’ of the petition Jaffery has asserted that Davis’s release went against Sharia, the constitution and Pakistani law as he had committed the offence of fisadfil arz which was not compoundable. “Raymond was involved in espionage activities in Pakistan for the CIA. He could not be released by the trial court even after payment of blood money,” he said.Jaffery also said that all the legal heirs of the deceased Fahim and Faizan should be summoned in the court to record their statements in an independent and transparent manner.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2011.