ISLAMABAD  -  The Supreme Court of Pakistan Tuesday upheld the death sentence of Zahir Jaffer for the murder of Noor Mukadam. 

A three-member bench, headed by Justice Hashim Kakar, and comprising Justices Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Ali Baqar Najafi conducted hearing of the case. Barrister Salman Safdar appeared as Zahir’s counsel, while Advocate Shah Khawar represented Noor’s father, retired diplomat Shaukat Mukadam. 

Noor, aged 27 years, was found murdered at Zahir’s Islamabad residence in July 2021, with the probe revealing she was tortured before being beheaded. Zahir’s death sentence by the trial court was upheld by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), which had also turned his jail term over rape charges into a second death penalty.

Jaffer, son of a wealthy industrialist, attacked 27-year-old Noor Mukadam at his sprawling Islamabad mansion in 2021 — torturing her with a knuckleduster and using a “sharp-edged weapon” to behead her.  At the outset of the hearing, Zahir’s counsel contended that any evidence against his client “must be beyond doubt”, arguing that the court could not “go beyond the footage presented in the court”. He said the prosecution presented the footage on a USB at the IHC, but it could not be played.

 Zahir’s counsel Salman Safdar presented arguments in defence of his client. Safdar argued that the prosecution’s entire case rested on CCTV footage and the DVR system.  He said that the evidence against the appellant must be beyond reasonable doubt. He further contended that the court could not go beyond the footage presented as evidence. “The footage presented by the prosecution in the Islamabad High Court failed to play,” he added. Justice Kakar responded: “You have already accepted the CCTV footage you are now objecting to.” He added that the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory had also confirmed the footage was not tampered with.

“Had a human recorded the footage, one could argue that selective parts were shown. But there is no human intervention in this case — the footage was recorded directly by a CCTV camera,” Justice Kakar remarked.  The co-accused — Mohammad Iftikhar (watchman) and Jan Mohammad (gardener), each sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for preventing the victim from fleeing — were also represented in court. Justice Ali Baqar Najafi remarked that the situation could have been different if the victim had not been stopped, while Justice Hashim Kakar commented on the limits of their responsibility given their salaries.

At this point, a lawyer for the co-accused — Mohammad Iftikhar (watchman) and Jan Mohammad (gardener), whose 10-year sentence were also upheld by the IHC — presented his arguments briefly. The lawyer detailed the sentences, recalling that the watchman and gardener were accused of “stopping the victim from fleeing”. Justice Najafi observed, “If the suspects had not stopped the victim, then the situation would have been different.” 

The lawyer asserted that the two co-accused had “no crime other than being present in the house” at the time of the murder. “What was the need to work more than [what] the salary [is paid for]?” Justice Kakar remarked.

 The bench then announced that the proceedings would resume later in the afternoon. It had indicated yesterday that a decision on Zahir’s appeal would be made soon. 

During the previous hearing, the accused’s lawyer contended that no medical board was formed to assess his client’s mental state. Justice Kakar had observed, “A daughter was mercilessly murdered.”  The appeals of the convicted co-accused in the case were to be taken up as well. An appeal by Shaukat against the acquittal of Zahir’s father, Zakir Jaffer, is also among the pleas to be heard. In October last year, Noor’s father had urged the SC to take up the murder case pending for more than one and a half years in the top court.