The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of Zahir Jaffer, the convicted murderer in the Noor Mukadam case, and upheld his death sentence.
The top court passed the order on an appeal filed by Zahir Jaffer against his death penalty in the Noor Mukadam murder case.
During the proceedings, the convict’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, argued that the prosecution’s entire case relied on CCTV footage and the DVR, and that evidence against the appellant must be beyond reasonable doubt. He maintained that the court cannot go beyond the footage presented as evidence.
He further stated that the footage shown by the prosecution could not be played in the Islamabad High Court.
To this, Justice Hashim Kakar remarked that the CCTV footage in question had already been accepted by the defense, and the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory had confirmed that the footage was neither tampered with nor edited. He added that if a human had recorded the video, one could argue that selective parts were shown, but in this case, there was no human intervention-it was recorded via a CCTV camera.
Meanwhile, the lawyer representing the co-accused, the watchman and the gardener, argued that both had been sentenced to 10 years in prison. He said the allegation against them was that they prevented the victim from escaping. Justice Ali Baqar Najafi responded that had they not stopped her, the outcome might have been different.
After hearing all arguments, the court announced its verdict, rejecting the appeal of main accused Zahir Jaffer and upholding his death sentence.
However, the Supreme Court reduced the sentences of Zahir Jaffer’s watchman and gardener.
Case background: In 2021, Zahir Jaffer brutally murdered Noor Mukadam in Islamabad following torture. The trial court had sentenced him to death, a verdict that was later upheld by the Islamabad High Court. Zahir Jaffer had then filed an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging his death sentence.