The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday rejected the bail pleas of Zakir Jaffer and Ismat Adamjee, the parents of suspect Zahir Jaffer, in the Noor Mukadam murder case.
The IHC also ordered the trial court to complete the trial within eight weeks.
Justice Aamer Farooq delivered a brief verdict denying the parents of Zahir bail. A detailed verdict will be announced later.
Zakir and Ismat had filed bail petitions in the Noor Mukadam murder case stating that they had nothing to do with Noor’s murder, while the police challan presented in court said that had Zahir’s parents informed the police in time, Noor could have been saved.
Noor Mukadam, a 27-year-old woman, was raped and murdered with a sharp instrument on July 20 within the limits of the Kohsar police station in Islamabad. A murder case was later registered on the complaint of Noor’s father, former Pakistani ambassador Shaukat Ali Mukadam.
Zahir Jaffer is the prime suspect of the grisly murder, who beheaded Mukadam, on July 20 in Islamabad’s F-7 area. He was arrested on the night of July 20 from his house where, according to Noor’s parents, he killed her with a sharp instrument.
Later, police broadened the scope of the investigation, adding four more sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, mainly related to abetment and concealing evidence. They also arrested Zahir’s parents, as well as the family guards.
Zakir and Asmat were then remanded and sent to Adiala jail.
Meanwhile, their bail applications, along with those of Zahir and their household staff, were submitted to the court.
However, the bail applications of Zahir’s parents were rejected by a sessions court, which noted in its “tentative assessment” that the suspects “not only caused abetment but also made utmost efforts to wipe off evidence”.
Zakir had then filed a petition before the IHC against the dismissal of his post-arrest bail by the sessions court.
