Murder of Justice Javed’s parents: Naveed Iqbal hopes case will be withdrawn

Says he feels remorse at killings, friend mediating with brothers.

LAHORE:

Naveed Iqbal does not expect forgiveness from his half brothers, a colonel and a Supreme Court judge, but he hopes that they will withdraw the case against him for the murder of their parents.

Speaking to The Express Tribune at the Sessions Court, Naveed said a common friend, Dr Rana Tahir, had met with Col Saeed Iqbal, the complainant in the case, and asked him to withdraw his complaint.

“He [Dr Tahir] is telling him that this is a family matter and it should be resolved at home instead of in court,” said Naveed.

“I know that Saeed will never forgive me but he knows Dr Rana Tahir and he would never ignore his request.” He added that family members had also asked Saeed to withdraw the case.

Naveed’s other half brother is Justice Javed Iqbal of the Supreme Court. Police say he has confessed to murdering his father and step mother, Javed and Saeed’s mother, at their home near Cavalry Ground in January, though Naveed denied this in front of reporters after his arrest.

However on Wednesday, he spoke freely of his guilt at the killings and said he felt real remorse. “It was a barbaric act. I should never have done it,” he said. He said that he was too poor to hire a lawyer, so his defence was being handled for free by Advocate Rana Zubair Rafique, a cousin of his friend Dr Rana Tahir.

Naveed was produced in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Chaudhry Ameer Muhammad Khan on Wednesday along with his co-accused Muhammad Ameen and Atif Abbas. His counsel told the court he had no documents relating to the case. The judge ordered that he be given a copy of the case file and then adjourned for April 20, when the court is likely to frame charges against the defendants.

According to the challan, all three have confessed to the murder, but has tried to pin most of the blame on the others. Police say they also have circumstantial evidence showing that all three were involved in the murders.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2011.