SC upholds Zahir Jaffer's death penalty in Noor Mukadam case, dismisses review plea

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a review petition filed by convict Zahir Jaffer in the high-profile Noor Mukadam murder case, upholding his death sentence.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Hashim Khan Kakar, and comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, announced the verdict after completing proceedings in the case.

During the hearing, the defence lawyer acknowledged the brutal nature of the crime and apologised to Noor Mukadam’s family.

“The focus of my arguments is the mental condition of the accused at the time of the incident,” the lawyer contended, adding that his client was not mentally stable during the crime and trial proceedings. However, the counsel did not deny that Zahir Jaffer had committed the murder.

After hearing the arguments, the apex court rejected the review plea and maintained the death penalty awarded to the convict.

Noor Mukadam, 27, was found murdered at the Islamabad residence of Zahir Jaffer in July 2021. The investigation revealed that Noor had been tortured before she was beheaded, according to details presented during the case proceedings.

In February 2022, a trial court sentenced Zahir to death for the murder. The verdict was later challenged in higher courts, but both the Islamabad High Court and the Supreme Court upheld the sentence.

The Islamabad High Court had dismissed Zahir’s appeal against the trial court’s decision, while the Supreme Court also maintained the death sentence in an earlier ruling.