Noor Mukadam murder case: SC grants bail to Zahir Jaffer’s mother

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Asmat Zakir Jaffer, mother of Zahir Jaffer, the prime accused in the Noor Mukadam murder case while rejecting the bail application of Zakir Jaffer, father of the accused.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Umer Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, heard the bail petitions by parents of Zahir Jaffer.

Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Zakir Jaffer challenged the Islamabad High Court order that rejected their bail pleas. The court ordered release of Asmat Zakir Jaffer on surety bond of Rs1 million, with the observation that her role in the instant case is secondary. But it upheld the order of the Islamabad High Court, ordering completion of trial of the accused within two months.

The parents had filed their petitions in the Supreme Court through advocate Khwaja Haris under Article 185(3) of the Constitution, seeking leave to appeal against the order passed by the Islamabad High Court on September 29, 2021, refusing post arrest bail to them.

Khwaja Haris submitted before the court that the parents had no role in the murder, however, the advocate general of the Islamabad Capital City opposed the bail contending that the parents played the role of facilitators. Haris, however, submitted that the parents were not the prime accused but have been accused of concealing the murder and not informing the police.

In this connection, the counsel submitted that the evidence pertaining to accusation of concealing the murder by the accused and his statement was available on the record. He further contended that from 6:45pm to 9:00pm, the father remained in contact with the accused (son) but there was no evidence of the mother being in contact with her son.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah observed that it was a gruesome murder, which they tried to conceal. “There is a possibility that the father asked the son to murder the victim or forbid him from doing so,” Justice Mansoor Ali Shah observed, adding that let us assume that the mother was well aware of the murder, but she could not have stopped the son while sitting in Karachi.

Khwaja Haris told the court that it might be possible that the accused (son) was not telling the truth to his father also. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, however, questioned the grounds for the bail in the murder after looking into all the aspects of the case.

Khwaja Haris replied that there was no significance of call records in law. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, however, questioned as to why the accused Zakir Jaffer (Father) did not inform the police about the murder. “Whether any medical test of the accused was conducted for ascertaining his mental condition,” Justice Mansoor Ali Shah asked the counsel.

At this, Shah Khawar, counsel for Noor Muqadam's family, informed the court that only narcotics test of the accused was conducted but no test for ascertaining the mental condition was made. Shah Khawar, while opposing the bail, contended that the parents had played the role of facilitators in the murder. To a court's query regarding the trial of the accused, the advocate general of the Islamabad Capital City informed the court that the accused were indicted and added that the learned high court had ordered completing the trial in eight weeks.

On the contention of the advocate general about Asmat Jaffar making 11 calls to Zahir, Khwaja Haris, however, contended that mother of the accused only made two calls to the guard of the house and there was no evidence of any calls to her son.

Justice Umer Ata Bandial observed that prima facie, no evidence was available of the involvement of mother of the accused in the case but it would be looked into as to why the mother, instead of calling the police, phoned the therapy centre.

The court after hearing the prosecution and the counsels for the parties, ordered release of Asmat Zakir Jaffer, mother of accused Zahir Jaffer, on surety bond of Rs1 million with the observation that the role of the mother in the instant case is secondary. The court, however, rejected the bail application of Zakir Jaffer.

The court upheld the order of the IHC regarding trial of the accused to be completed in eight weeks with the observation that it will not interfere in the decision of the high court.