Noor Mukadam murder case: SC rejects bail plea of Zahir Jaffer's father

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan Monday rejected the bail plea of Zakir Jaffer, the father of Zahir Jaffer, the prime suspect in the Noor Mukadam murder case.

The apex court however, accepted a similar plea filed by Zahir's mother, Asmat Adamjee, directing her to submit the bail bonds worth Rs1mn.

The court observed that Asmat was not at the scene of the crime when it took place.

The co-accused [Zahir's parents] had filed pleas challenging their bail pleas getting rejected  by the Islamabad High Court in the murder case.

A three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin, was hearing the bail pleas of Zahir’s parents, Zakir Jafer and Asmat Adamjee on Monday.

"The Supreme Court of Pakistan will not interfere in the interim order of the Islamabad High Court," said the Supreme Court.

Senior lawyer Khawaja Haris, representing Jaffer's parents, urged the court to reject Islamabad High Court's directives to wrap up the trial in two months.

The Supreme Court rejected Haris' appeal. It added that the suspects in the Noor Mukadam murder case must be given a fair and transparent trial.

The counsel representing the parents of prime suspect Zahir Jaffer in the Noor Mukadam murder case, contended before the Supreme Court that his clients have only been accused of trying to cover up the murder.

At the outset of the hearing, Justice Bandial directed the petitioners’ counsel to argue over the records of telephone calls between Zahir and his parents the day of the murder.

“The petitioners [Zahir’s parents] made multiple calls to Zahir on the day of the incident,” observed Justice Umar Ata Bandial.

Justice Shah remarked that either the father, Zakir Jaffer, provoked his son to murder the victim, or forbade him, over the telephone call.

At this, Khawaja Haris argued that it is also possible that Zahir didn’t tell the truth about the murder at all to his father over the phone.

Discussing Asmat's alleged role in Noor Mukadam's murder, the Islamabad advocate-general maintained that there are records of 11 phone calls made by Zahir’s mother to her son on the day of the grisly murder.

Haris said as per the phone records, Asmat contacted the security guards twice during the day.

However, call records have no legal value [relating to the case], said Khawaja Haris.

At this, Justice Shah remarked that even if the call records are ignored, one wonders why Zakir Jaffer did not inform police about the murder.

IHC rejects bail pleas of Zahir Jaffer's parents

Earlier, the IHC rejected the bail pleas of Zahir's parents — Zakir Jaffer and Ismat Adamjee — in the case.

The IHC also ordered the trial court to complete the trial within eight weeks. IHC's Justice Aamer Farooq initially delivered a brief verdict. A detailed verdict was released later.

Zakir and Ismat had filed bail petitions in the case stating that they had nothing to do with Noor's murder, while the police challan presented in court said that if Zahir's parents had informed the police in time, Noor could have been saved.

IHC indicts Zahir Jaffer, 11 others in Noor Mukadam's murder case

The prime suspect in the murder of Noor Mukadam, Zahir Jaffer, has been formally charged for the crime by the Islamabad High Court on Thursday.

Besides Jaffer, two of the family's employees — Jamil and Jan Mohammad — were also indicted, along with the Chief Executive Officer of Therapy Works, Tahir Zahoor.

The murder

Noor Mukadam, a 27-year-old woman, was raped and murdered with a sharp instrument on July 20 within the limits of the ​Kohsar police station in Islamabad. A case of murder was later registered at the same police station by Noor's father, former Pakistani ambassador Shaukat Ali Mukadam.

Zahir Jaffer is the prime suspect in Noor Mukadam's murder case. The grisly murder, in which Mukadam was beheaded, took place on July 20 in Islamabad's F-7 area.

The Islamabad police arrested suspect Zahir Jaffer on the night of July 20 from his house where, according to Noor's parents, he killed her with a sharp instrument and severed her head.

The gruesome incident sparked a nationwide campaign seeking justice for her, with #JusticeforNoor becoming a top trend on Twitter.