May 19, 2025
By Rana Malhi
ISLAMABAD
The Supreme Court on Monday, heard the appeal of Zahir Jaffer, who was already been sentenced to death in the Noor Mukaddam murder case by a District and Sessions’ court as well as the Islamabad High Court. A three-member bench, headed by Justice Hashim Kakar, conducted the hearing. During the proceedings, Jaffer’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, argued that his client had not been mentally stable at the time of the incident, and the trial court failed to properly assess his mental condition.
Safdar informed the court that a complete medical history of Zahir Jaffer from 2013 to date, had been submitted, but no medical board had ever constituted to examine his mental health, which he termed ‘deeply unfortunate’.
He stated that the trial court had sentenced the accused to death for murder, life imprisonment for rape, and 10 years for abduction. However, the Islamabad High Court had later enhanced the life sentence for rape to a death sentence.
The lawyer further argued that the initial FIR only mentioned murder, while charges of rape and abduction were added later—22 days after the incident.
Presenting his arguments, Safdar said that the crime scene was Zahir Jaffer’s own home, but no solid evidence was presented from the house in court. He noted that the incident occurred at 10 PM, the FIR was filed at 11:30 PM, and the post-mortem took place at 9:30 AM the next day. The post-mortem report recorded the time of death as 12:10 AM.
He added that one of the injured persons, Amjad, was made a co-accused instead of being treated as a witness, and the entire police case relied heavily on CCTV footage. He also mentioned that a photogrammetric test of the accused was conducted, which had also been referenced in the PTI May 9 case.
In his arguments, Safdar cited the Arshad Malik video scandal case and decisions by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa. At this, Justice Hashim Kakar remarked that if one relied solely on parameters, even making a statement while standing in a holy place like the Kaaba could become difficult to prove. He added that although the ruling cited was in the lawyer’s favor, the nature of the evidence must also be considered.
Justice Hashim Kakar observed that there were no eyewitnesses in this case and that all evidence was circumstantial. He assured that if any point justified relief, it would be considered; otherwise, the court would fulfill its duty.
He further stated that judges should also bear some ‘pain’ and that it should not be the case that an appeal is accepted for preliminary hearing but then never heard. “People end up languishing in death cells for 10 years—that will not happen anymore,” he remarked.
The court scheduled the case based on the possibility of the current bench being dissolved. It noted that a case regarding reserved seats would be heard at 11:30 AM, and if that bench remained intact, the Noor Mukadam case would resume at 1:00 PM.
After the break, when the hearing resumed, Salman Safdar continued his arguments, stating that Zahir Jaffer had denied all charges—abduction, rape, and murder—at the time of indictment. He noted that the post-mortem report lacked details about the size of the wounds, which he called highly unusual.
Justice Hashim Kakar asked whether the defense was trying to make an unnatural death appear controversial. He stressed that a girl had been brutally murdered and that the case had multiple aspects.
Justice Baqar Najafi remarked that the system itself was flawed, and all parties involved were well aware of everything. Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim noted that all facts are presented before the trial judges.
Justice Kakar added that the murder had occurred in the presence of six to seven people. Meanwhile, the complainant’s lawyer argued that the owner and employees of Therapy Works were made co-accused for concealing facts.
The court adjourned the hearing until Tuesday, granting additional time to Salman Safdar to complete his arguments. The court also asked Shah Khawar how much time he would need, to which he responded that one to one-and-a-half hours would suffice.
It was decided that if the reserved seats case does not proceed at 11:30 AM on Tuesday, the Noor Mukadam case hearing would begin at 1:00 PM. Otherwise, both counsels would have to conclude their arguments within a limited time.
The next hearing of the case will take place on Tuesday, during which Salman Safdar and Shah Khawar will continue presenting their arguments.
Evidence collected
In the Sessions’ Court hearing of the case, the court was told of the evidence collected from the crime scene.
Muhammad Imran, in-charge of the National Forensic Crime Agency, during cross examination told the court that he had collected various pieces of evidence from the room such as the murder knife, guns, magazines, four cigarettes and made parcels before handing them over to the investigating officer. He had added that Noor’s head had been found near the window of the room.
He said that the fingerprints for the knife were taken too. Blood had also been collected from everywhere in the room.
At an earlier hearing, the IO had told the court of a jury magistrate that weapons had been recovered from Zahir Jaffer and taken into custody. while a 9mm pistol was lying on a table at the crime scene. The said pistol, along with the digital video recorder of the CCTV footage of the crime scene, had been submitted to the court.