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LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday
sought a reply from the federal government by March
14 on a writ petition challenging the Diplomatic and
Consular Privileges Act, 1972 under which immunity
was granted to diplomats in line with the Vienna
Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 and Vienna
Convention on Consular Relations, 1963 by the
federal government.
Chief Justice Ijaz
Ahmad Chaudhry passed the order on a writ filed by
Muhammad Azhar Siddique, advocate, who argued that
the said act was in conflict with the fundamental
rights as envisaged in the Constitution of Pakistan.
He pointed out that the law infringed onėlife and
liberty of the citizens of Pakistan and was void in
term of Article 8 of the Constitution.
The petitioner also
requested the court to summon former foreign
minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and PPP Information
Secretary Fauzia Wahab for giving contradictory
statements on the issue of diplomatic immunity to
Raymond Davis. The court, however, turned down his
plea for the time being, observing they would be
summoned only when their appearance was required.
Continuing his
arguments Azhar said that if the diplomats were
granted complete immunity, then anyone could enter
the country under the guise of diplomats, kill the
citizens and claim immunity. He said there was no
law in the world that allowed diplomats to kill
people, adding that the State Department of USA had
also mentioned in Guidance for Law Enforcement and
Judicial Authorities that diplomats did not enjoy
complete immunity.
He said the
Diplomatic and Consular Privileges Act, 1972 should
be set aside by declaring it ultra vires of the
Constitution, which guaranteed fundamental rights.
He pointed out that Shah Mahmood Qureshi had
publicly stated that Davis did not enjoy diplomatic
immunity while Fauiza Wahab had said he had complete
immunity.
Azhar said the
American ambassador and consular had categorically
declared that the person apprehended by the Punjab
Police as Raymond Davis was not Raymond Davis but
his real name had not been disclosed so far. He said
a fake person had no right to claim diplomatic
immunity under the Vienna Convention or any other
relevant law. He said a criminal case of forgery
should also be registered against him.
The petitioner said
Davis should not be released from custody or he
should not be handed over to the government of the
US until it was decided by the courts whether he had
diplomatic immunity or not. He requested the court
to pass an order to try Davis for the murder of two
Pakistanis and sentence him under the laws of
Pakistan. He apprehended that the record of the
Foreign Office was being illegally removed to the
Interior Ministry to tamper with the Davis’ record.
He prayed to the court to send the record back to
the FO and copies of that record might be submitted
in the court. He also sought a judicial inquiry into
the tampering, manipulating, forgery in the record
of immunity maintained by the FO.
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