The Supreme Court declined a request from Zahir Jaffer’s lawyer, Khawaja Haris, to postpone the hearing until Monday. Instead, the court allowed the defense an extra hour to finish its arguments, a duration Haris confirmed would suffice. Representing Noor Mukadam’s family, Shah Khawar stated the prosecution would require only ten minutes for its closing remarks.
On June 4, the apex court convened for a crucial hearing concerning the review petition filed by Jaffer, who was sentenced to death for the brutal murder and beheading of 27-year-old Noor Mukadam at his Islamabad residence in July 2021. This hearing, initially scheduled for April and May, is now underway.
Jaffer’s 47-page petition, submitted under Article 188 of the Constitution, challenges the Supreme Court’s earlier verdict on multiple technical and procedural grounds. A key argument centers on the claim that Jaffer’s mental capacity was never properly evaluated. The defense contends that the trial court neglected legal precedents, such as the Safia Bano case, which mandate thorough assessment of a defendant’s mental health to confirm their ability to stand trial. Although Jaffer was treated at a jail hospital for two months before being moved to a death cell, jail authorities have maintained he was mentally sound upon initial incarceration.
Additionally, the petition disputes the validity of digital evidence, particularly CCTV footage stored on a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), which played a significant role in the original conviction. Jaffer’s counsel argues these recordings were never adequately authenticated during the trial, as the forensic experts responsible for the reports were not summoned to testify under oath. The defense asserts that without this digital evidence, considered a critical link in the chain of circumstances, the case for capital punishment collapses.
The case has also been surrounded by controversy over judicial language. In late 2025, the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) strongly condemned remarks made by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi. In an additional note to the verdict affirming Jaffer’s death sentence, Justice Najafi attributed the murder to the “vice” of “living relationships” prevalent in upper-class society. The NCSW criticized these comments as misogynistic and irresponsible, highlighting that they shift blame from the perpetrator to the victim. The commission stressed that a woman’s personal choices can never justify such violence and that judicial discourse must remain impartial and free of moral judgment.
Jaffer was initially sentenced to death by a district and sessions court in February 2022, a decision later upheld and reinforced by the Islamabad High Court. While the Supreme Court previously commuted a related rape charge death sentence to life imprisonment, it upheld the capital punishment for the murder.
As the hearing progresses, the Supreme Court faces the task of balancing the defense’s claims of procedural flaws and mental health concerns against the digital evidence that has been pivotal in this high-profile case. The verdict will determine whether Jaffer’s conviction remains intact or if the legal process will be reopened to reconsider the issues raised by his legal team.
