Counsel wraps up arguments in Noor murder

The counsel for Zahir Jaffer, the convict in the Noor Muqqdam murder case, completed arguments on identical petitions from defendants and appellants.

Islamabad High Court division bench comprising (IHC) Chief Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Sardar Ijaz Ishaq Khan heard the case on Wednesday.

After Usman Khosa, the lawyer of accused Zahir Jaffer, completed the arguments, the court sought arguments from lawyers of other convicts on Thursday (today).

During the hearing on Wednesday, defence counsel Usman Khosa said that the police officials reached the crime scene at 9 o'clock and the FIR was registered at 11:15 while the postmortem of Noor Muqqadam was done at 9am the next morning. He said that the FIR means the first information report and the case should have been registered immediately. He said in this case, the victim’s father Shaukat Muqqdam, did not even need to be a plaintiff and the police could have registered a case immediately on their own.

To this Justice Aamir Farooq asked why the police delayed the registration of the FIR.

The defence counsel said that the plaintiff named the main suspect’s parents, who were in Karachi, in the FIR four days after watching the CCTV video of the murder.

He said that the Therapy Works CEO, who is 73 years old and was in America was also nominated as an accused. The IHC chief justice said that the common man was forced by the police wherever they want. He said that policemen themselves say “you should write or say this and that”.

The lawyer said that according to the FIR, the time of the murder was 10pm but in the postmortem, it was 12:10.

He said Noor Muqqadam talked to her mother at 10:45 am on July 20. After which it is said that the phone was switched off, if the mother's statement had been there, it would be known what the two talked about? He said when Noor Muqqadam tried to escape on July 20, her mobile phone was in her hand.

The defence lawyer said that the prosecution needs to explain all the evidence in this case. There is no link between the pieces of evidence. “I have presented all the facts related to the case and Zahir Jaffer had no motive or intention to kill,” he said.

The IHC chief justice said that both were together and one was murdered and nobody come from outside. “(Zahir Jaffer’s) servants and the people of Therapy Works were also there but you didn't defend them in your arguments. You cannot even call it suicide as the throat was cut. Keeping this in mind, what comes to your mind,? the chief justice asked adding that “you have not even mentioned in your defence that he (Jaffer) was addicted to drugs even though there may be a hundred and one legal issues or faults in the prosecution's case”.

The lawyer said that a knife was produced in the evidence as a murder weapon. Zahir Jafar was tied up when he was arrested, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2022.