Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday clarified that there was “no question” of its team landing in Copenhagen with an expired warrant for the extradition of Kim Davy, the main accused in the 1995 Purulia arms drop case, even as the Danish court has deferred its judgment for about two months.

The investigating agency Thursday came in for strong criticism from opposition parties for botching up the extradition of Davy, accused of dropping a cache of arms in West Bengal’s Purulia district from an AN-26 aircraft Dec 17, 1995.

The government had sent a two-member team - a CBI officer and a lawyer - to Denmark seeking Davy’s extradition. The team left for Denmark May 16.

In a statement, the CBI said that as per section 70 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a warrant issued by a court remains in force till it is executed or is cancelled by the same court. “There is no question of a warrant getting expired as reported in a section of media,” it asserted.

Further, it said that for all “practical purpose the warrant issued by Kolkata court has been executed by the Danish police on request of CBI”.

“At present, status of Kim Davy is that of an accused person arrested and released on conditional bail by the court in Denmark,” said the statement.

It noted that it was on the basis of the Kolkata court warrant that the Danish ministry of justice had passed an extradition order for Kim Davy.

After arrest on April 9, Davy was brought before a court, which ordered that he could stay at home, provided he reported to police twice a week. “Thus, in Indian terms, he was released by the court on conditional bail,” said the CBI’s press note, adding that no arrest can take place till the case is heard by the Danish extradition court.

Despite the warrant being legally valid, CBI said that an objection was raised by Davy’s advocate in the Danish High Court Monday that the warrant against his client was an old one.

The prosecutor opposed this plea, which was not accepted by the court.

But, as per the CBI, the Indian agency decided not to take chances. “However, keeping the sensitivity and importance of the case it was decided to request the court in Kolkata to extend the execution date of the same warrant which was duly done on May 18,” said the statement.

It added that the issue of the warrant “has in no way affected the appeal proceedings” in Danish High Court which ended Thursday.

The CBI said the court decided to “pronounce the verdict before summer vacations beginning in month of July 2011″.

Davy had earlier alleged that Indian intelligence agencies had a role in the arms drop case.

In an interview to Times Now TV channel, Davy alleged that the then P.V. Narasimha Rao government had plotted the operation to destabilise the West Bengal government by arming locals in the Left-ruled state.

He claimed that India’s external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) planned the operation with the help of its British counterpart MI-5.