The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the review petition filed by Zahir Jaffer, the principal convict in the murder of Noor Mukadam, and upheld its earlier verdict maintaining his death sentence.
Noor Mukadam, 27, the daughter of former diplomat Shaukat Mukadam, was murdered and beheaded in a posh locality of Islamabad in July 2021. Police had charged Jaffer, a US national and heir to the Jaffer Group of Companies, with the crime.
A three-member bench headed by Justice Hashim Kakar announced the decision after hearing arguments for nearly four hours. The bench also rejected a plea seeking the formation of a medical board to assess Jaffer’s mental health.
During the hearing, Jaffer’s counsel, Khawaja Haris, conceded that Noor had been subjected to grave injustice and apologised to her family.
He said his arguments centred on his client’s mental condition at the time of the incident rather than disputing his presence at the crime scene. “I accept that my client was present at the scene,” Haris said. “I will not argue that my client did not commit the murder.”