The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday accepted the bail plea of Asmat Adamjee, the mother of the suspected killer of Noor Mukadam, Zahir Jaffer, but rejected that of his father Zakir Jaffer.
The Supreme Court ordered Asmat Adamjee to submit bail bonds worth Rs 1 million.
The apex court said the prime suspect’s mother was not at the scene of the crime when it took place.
A three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin, was hearing the bail pleas of Zahir’s parents.
“The Supreme Court of Pakistan will not interfere in the interim order of the Islamabad High Court,” said the Supreme Court.
Senior lawyer Khawaja Haris, representing Jaffer’s parents, requested the court to reject Islamabad High Court’s directives to wrap up the trial in two months.
The Supreme Court rejected Haris’ appeal. It said that the suspects in the Noor Mukadam murder case must be given a fair and transparent trial.
The counsel contended before the Supreme Court that his clients have only been accused of trying to cover up the murder.
At the outset of the hearing, Justice Bandial directed the counsel to argue over the records of telephone calls between Zahir and his parents the day of the murder.
“The petitioners [Zahir’s parents] made multiple calls to Zahir on the day of the incident,” observed Justice Umar Ata Bandial.
Justice Shah remarked that either the father, Zakir, provoked his son to murder the victim, or forbade him, by the telephone call.
At this, Khawaja Haris argued that it is also possible that Zahir didn’t tell the truth about the murder at all to his father by phone.
Discussing Asmat’s alleged role in Noor Mukadam’s murder, the Islamabad advocate-general maintained that there are records of 11 phone calls made by Zahir’s mother to her son on the day of the grisly murder.
Haris said according to the phone records, Asmat contacted the security guards twice during the day.
However, call records have no legal value [relating to the case], said Khawaja Haris.
At this, Justice Shah remarked that even if the call records are ignored, one wonders why Zakir Jaffer did not inform police about the murder.
Earlier, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected the bail pleas of Zahir’s parents.
Zakir and Asmat had filed bail petitions in the case stating that they had nothing to do with Noor’s murder, while the police challan presented in court said that if Zahir’s parents had informed the police in time, Noor could have been saved.
