Zahir Jaffer again refuses to hire counsel

ISLAMABAD:

Zahir Jaffer, the prime suspect in the Noor Mukadam murder case, on Wednesday refused to sign the power of attorney to be eligible to have egal representation and insisted that he would have a lawyer of his own choice.

When advocate Malik Amjad Ali appeared before the court and claimed to be the lawyer of the prime suspect Zahir Jaffer, Judge Atta Rabbani directed him to submit power of attorney. The prime suspect was brought in the courtroom to sign the power of attorney, however, he refused to sign it saying that he would hire a lawyer of his own choice only after seeing his capabilities.

He denied that Malik Amjad was his lawyer and said his lawyer was a barrister with whom he would consult.

Asad Jamal, the lawyer of Zahir’s mother, said that Amjad is an experienced and senior lawyer and he has been appointed by his family.At this, the prime suspect said that he did not need his advice and he did not think he was being guided rightly in the case.

He said Amjad could have been a senior lawyer but he would talk to him later on.

Zahir Jaffer said in a loud tone, “I have denied him to represent me and nobody is representing me”.

When the statements of the witnesses were being recorded, Zahir Jaffer asked the judge to arrange drinking water for him in the courtroom. Police provided him with a water bottle.

During the hearing of the murder case, Shaukat Muqqadam, the plaintiff in the Noor Muqqadam murder case, demanded to probe the circulation of CCTV footage of the incident on the internet and sought action against those involved in leaking it.

During the hearing, the suspects’ lawyers denied any involvement in making the video viral or handing it to anybody and supported investigating the matter.

Meanwhile, the lawyer of the suspect Asmat Adam, Asad Jamal, has filed a petition for the provision of complete CCTV footage of the incident.

Read Noor Mukadam case: Defense requests full CCTV footage

The lawyer of the suspect Tahir Zahoor, Akram Qureshi, filed a petition pleading with the court to issue directions to PEMRA to bar news channels from running news of the case. Witness ASI Dost Muhammad recorded his testimony and the suspects’ lawyers cross-examined him

ASI said they recovered Rs59,000 and four different ATM cards from Zahir’s possession at the time of the arrest.

Dr Shazia also recorded her statement and said that Dr Sara carried out the autopsy under her supervision.

The layer Akram Qureshi said Dr Shazia did not do post-mortem herself, maintaining she could not be a witness.

Answering different questions, Dr Shazia said the autopsy was done at 9 am and it was the duty day of Dr Sara on July 21. She said Dr Usman was the first one who carried out the post-mortem of Noor Muqqadam.

When asked who permitted another autopsy, she said they did not seek permission from anyone.

The suspects’ lawyers raised objections to the post-mortem report after the statements.

The prosecution and suspects’ lawyers filed miscellaneous petitions and affidavits seeking an inquiry into the leak of CCTV footage of the incident.

Judge Atta Rabbani said that he did not wish to name anyone but knew how the video went viral, adding that he had strictly directed the police to ensure the video should remain confidential.

The hearing of the case was adjourned until November 24.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2021.