The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday dismissed the appeal of Zahir Jaffer in the highprofile Noor Mukadam murder case, upholding his death sentence and fine.
The verdict was announced by Justice Hashim Khan Kakar, who headed a threemember bench comprising Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi.
During the hearing, Barrister Salman Safdar represented the convict Zahir Jaffer, while Advocate Shah Khawar appeared on behalf of the deceased’s father, former diplomat Shaukat Mukadam.
Barrister Safdar argued that the prosecution’s case relied heavily on CCTV footage and DVR evidence. He contended that any conviction must be based on evidence that is beyond a reasonable doubt and that the court should not consider anything outside of the submitted footage.
He also noted that during proceedings at the Islamabad High Court, the prosecution’s footage failed to play, and instead, a USB provided by the defense was used to show the video.
Following the conclusion of Safdar’s arguments, legal representatives for the coaccused-the watchman and gardener-presented their defense. They argued that their clients were sentenced to ten years in prison merely for allegedly preventing the victim from leaving the premises.
Justice Baqar Najafi remarked that the outcome might have been different had the accused not stopped the victim, while Justice Hashim Kakar questioned why they performed duties beyond their job description.
After the coaccused’s counsel completed their arguments, Advocate Shah Khawar began presenting the case on behalf of the victim’s family. While Zahir Jaffer’s death sentence for murder was upheld, the Supreme Court converted his death sentence related to the rape charge into life imprisonment. The court also overturned his conviction for kidnapping and the sentence under that charge declared void.
Zahir Jaffer, the son of an industrialist, had attacked 27yearold Noor Mukadam at his Islamabad residence in 2021, torturing her with a knuckleduster and using a ‘sharpedged weapon’ to behead her.
The court also reduced the sentences of Zahir Jaffer’s coaccused the household staff watchman and gardener and ruled that the punishments already served by both would suffice.
In February 2022, a district and sessions court in Islamabad had sentenced Zahir Jaffer to death, alongside a 25year prison term with hard labour and a fine of Rs200,000. Later, his appeal against death sentence was also dismissed by the Islamabad High Court, thus he moved to the Supreme Court.