ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Tuesday upheld the death sentence of Zahir Jaffer for the gruesome murder of Noor Mukaddam.
A three-member bench, headed by Justice Hashim Kakar, and comprising Justices Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Ali Baqar Najafi, dismissed Zahir’s appeal against the Islamabad High Court (IHC)’s verdict. The death sentence in rape charge has been commuted to life imprisonment, and 10 years sentence in abduction charge has been reduced to one year. However, maintained the earlier orders to Zahir to pay Rso.5 million to Noor’s legal heir.
The bench also reduced the sentences of gardener Jan Muhammad and watchman Iftikhar, saying that the time the accused already served in jail is sufficient.
Noor, aged 27 years, was found murdered at Zahir’s Islamabad residence in July 2021, with the probe revealing she was tortured before being beheaded. Zahir’s death sentence by the trial court was upheld by the IHC, which had also turned his jail term over rape charges into a second death penalty.
The police had charged Jaffer, a US national, with murder.
At the outset of the proceedings, Barrister Salman Safdar, appearing on behalf of Zahir, argued that the prosecution’s entire case relied on CCTV footage and DVR recordings, stressing that the evidence must be beyond reasonable doubt to support a conviction. He questioned the chain of custody and insisted the footage could not be accepted without thorough verification.
He said that the evidence against the appellant must be beyond reasonable doubt. He further contended that the court could not go beyond the footage presented as evidence. “The footage presented by the prosecution in the Islamabad High Court failed to play,” he added.
Justice Kakar responded: “You have already accepted the CCTV footage, but now you are objecting it veracity.”
He added that the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory had also confirmed the footage was not tampered with.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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