Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Latest Updates

noor mukadam case: counsel of Zahir Jaffer seeks medical board formation to determine his client’s mental health

The counsel said that Zahir is suffering from severe mental ailment which is necessary to be determined through an authorised medical board

ISLAMABAD: The counsel for primary accused of Noor Mukadam murder, Zahir Zakir Jaffer, today filed an application in an Islamabad court seeking the formation of a medical board to determine his (Zahir) mental state.

The application was filed in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Atta Rabbani by Advocate Sikandar Zulqarnain Saleem. The counsel said that Zahir is suffering from severe mental ailment which is necessary to be determined through an authorised medical board according to the commands of legislature and local and international law.

Noor Mukadam, 27, daughter of former ambassador Shaukat Mukadam, was found murdered at a residence in the capital’s upscale Sector F-7/4 on July 20. A first information report was registered the same day against Zahir — who was arrested from the site of the murder — under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of the victim’s father, Shaukat Ali Mukadam.

A trial court on October 14 had indicted Zahir along with 11 others — his parents, their three household staff including Iftikhar (watchman), Jan Muhammad (gardener) and Jameel (cook), Therapyworks CEO Tahir Zahoor and employees Amjad, Dilip Kumar, Abdul Haq, Wamiq and Samar Abbas — in the case. The murder trial formally began on Oct 20.

The application filed during today’s hearing stated that when the trial court framed charges against the accused on Oct 14, Zahir “[did not respond] to the charge as he was unable to understand the proceedings of [the] trial court, which is vivid from the charge sheet and order sheet dated” Oct 14.

It stated that the judge “himself observed the demeanour, conduct and state of mind of Zahir Jaffer during his appearance before the court and [the] same was aired on all news and TV channels what he had done and this honourable court sent the accused Zahir back to prison through police officials”.

Zahir had disrupted proceedings during a hearing of the case on November 3, hurling obscenities at Judge Rabbani who had then directed police officials to take him away. Video footage of the incident showed policemen dragging Zahir out of the courtroom.

The judge had warned Zahir in a written order that his court appearances would be disallowed if he continued his outbursts and did not rectify his behaviour.

Avatar photo
Written By

I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.

Economy

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi, will help Ugandan authorities to establish a Halal Authentication Laboratory in...

Articles

Daesh gunmen killed at least 143 Russians in an attack on a concert mall in Moscow and injured dozens of others. The callous attack...

Latest Updates

The Russia’s Interior Ministry stated on Saturday that the four suspected gunmen arrested after Friday night's deadly attack were foreigners, with some media outlets...

Politics

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Sher Afzal Marwat clarified to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) that he did not directly accuse Punjab Chief Minister...