Zubair Qureshi
Additional Sessions Judge Atta Rabbani has turned down a plea filed by the defence counsel for the prime suspect Zahir Zakir Jaffer in Noor Mukadam’s murder case for constitution of a medical board to ascertain mental health.
In his application, the counsel for Jaffer submitted that his client was facing mental health problems and was not mentally stable therefore a medical board should be constituted to ascertain his health.
Jaffer is facing charges of beheading Noor Mukadam last year in July when she was visiting his house in Islamabad’s posh residential sector F-7 on July 20, 2021.
Earlier, Defecne Counsel Sikandar Zulqarnain Saleem drew the attention of the court towards Zahir Jaffer’s conduct during the last couple of hearings, particularly hearing in November last year when he had tried to interrupt the hearing and used foul language inside the courtroom.
The defence counsel, while basing his arguments on the misconduct of the prime accused, argued that Jaffer was facing mental health issues and was not in a sound state of mind.
Advocate Shah Khawar, counsel for Noor Mukadam’s father who is the petitioner in the case, however opposed forming of a medical board for ascertaining the mental health of the accused. In his written arguments, he held that Zahir Jaffer appeared before the court during the physical remand and trial stages and never once showed signs of insanity.
Besides, he (Jaffer) had been taking classes with the young students and kids of various international schools in Islamabad. At the Therapy Works, the Drug Addiction Rehab Centre, too, where his parents worked, he was allotted a separate office that also showed his normal behavior and sound mental health at the time of committing the crime, the counsel for the victim’s father said.
