Defence lawyers conclude arguments in Noor murder case

Judgement of case likely to be reserved as counsel for victim’s family will wrap up arguments on Tuesday

ISLAMABAD:

Counsel for all accused in the Noor Muqqadam murder case concluded arguments on Monday. When Additional Sessions Judge Atta Rabbani resumed hearing of the case today, counsel for the accused presented final arguments.

At the outset of the hearing, advocate Shahzad Qureshi, the counsel for five Therapy Works employees, Amjad, Dilip Kumar, Abdul Haq, Wamiq and Samar Abbas, in response to a question raised by the judge, said that his clients had reached the crime scene at around 8pm and no one attempted to wipe out the evidence as their entire conduct was recorded in the DVR.

Qureshi requested the court to acquit his clients as it was proved from the DVR that instead of removing any evidence from the spot, they seized the main accused, Zahir Jaffer and informed the police about the occurrence of the incident.

Akram Qureshi, the counsel for owner of Therapy Works Tahir Zahoor also gave final arguments and said that his client was accused of being getting instruction from Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee — the main accused’s parents — as they called him when they learnt about the murder.

Also read: Zahir Jaffer ‘denies’ killing Noor

However, he added, no record other than the CDR was found through which the prosecution could prove this accusation.

Asmat Adamjee's lawyer Asad Jamal in his final arguments said that it was never clarified who informed the police about the murder. He said that his client was accused of not reporting the murder to the police, and removing the evidence from the scene.

However, the crime scene in charge never said that an attempt was made to wipe out the evidence, he added.

Shah Khawar, the counsel for Noor's family, said that the CCTV footage did not reveal anything about the “drug party” and it was nothing but a fictional story made up by the main accused.

Regarding the substance formed inside the victim’s body in the medical report, Shah Khawar said that the substance is also caused by trauma. “A person is so brutally killed, she must have gone through deep trauma at the time which led to the medical report confirming substance in the body.”

Also read: Noor murder case: Court rejects Zahir Jaffer's petitions

He said a stand was taken by the counsel of the main accused that a drug party was held at the house while the 38-hour CCTV footage did not reveal anything regarding any such activity.

“When the deceased entered the house, there was no luggage with her while the accused and the victim were seen in CCTV footage with the luggage containing the belongings of the accused when they left for the airport. He said that when the victim tried to run away, the accused forcibly locked her in the house which is also clear in CCTV footage.

“The defence counsel tried to paint the incident as the honour killing, while never once during the trial did anything of this kind come from the defence side,” he said.

After the court time ended, the judge asked Shah Khawar to continue his arguments on Tuesday. The verdict of the case is likely to be reserved on Tuesday.