A sessions court in Islamabad on Thursday issued a written order, holding that a petition seeking constitution of a medical board to determine the mental health of Zaheer Jafar, the primary accused in the Noor Muqadam murder case, was “only to get rid of it”. for” was raised. criminal liability”.
the court dismiss application, which was filed A day earlier on December 1 by Zaheer’s legal team.
In its written order issued today, a copy of which is available don.comThe court said that on December 1, state counsel Sikandar Zulqarnain Salim, who was representing Zaheer, raised an objection regarding the mental condition of the accused.
“No such objection had ever been raised before learned magistrates” [the] remand phase, as well as before this court,” read the order, which said that the objection was raised when “the trial was about to conclude very soon”.
It said Zaheer’s parents – who have also been charged in the case – had appeared before the court but did not make any application related to his mental health. Other members of his family were also attending the hearing of the case, the order said: “For the sake of argument, if the accused is found to be mentally unsound, the application may be transferred through the next friend or mother or father.” Was Needed. “
The order further stated that the application was made without disclosing the medical history of Zaheer to the court.
It said the court had “provisionally examined” Zaheer on December 8, but found no disability.
“The facts and the circumstances present show that the accused is not suffering from mental illness. [and] The petition has been filed for such consideration to be relieved of criminal liability,” the order read.
It said that the court did not find any reason for constitution of medical board as requested by Zaheer’s counsel and hence, the application was dismissed.
The order said that the Public Prosecutor, assisted by the complainant’s counsel, Advocate Shah Kharwar, had objected to the application, arguing that it was not maintainable as it did not bear the signature of the accused.
He had also pointed out that no such petition regarding the mental condition of Zaheer was raised by his lawyer at the first stage of the proceedings of the case.
He further argued that the accused was a well-known person, who was running his family business. He also conducted counseling sessions at a branch of Beacon House School in Satellite Town of Rawalpindi, saying: “He is mentally fit and cannot be considered insane or mentally deformed.”
Application letter
According to the order, Advocate Salim, in his application for constitution of the medical board, had stated that Zaheer “did not respond to the allegation as he was unable to understand the proceedings of the trial court”.
“The accused Zaheer Jaffer is a patient for a long time. [of a] psychotic disorder/schizoaffective disorder due to drug psychosis and was the same [his] status at the time of his arrest on July 20, 2021,” the order said, citing the application.
It further said that the counsel had argued that the police and the investigating agency concerned had “failed” [to] or voluntarily refrained from disclosing the mental health condition of the accused… [the] Court due to social/complainant influence”.
“The courts are supposed to be neutral… But it is unfortunate that considering the mental state of the accused Zaheer Zakir Jafar, the trial court, instead of proceeding as per Chapter XXXIV of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure), initiated the trial of the accused. In the absence of the same,” the counsel said, it was a violation of section 353 of Cr.
On these grounds, he urged the court to constitute a medical board to inquire into Zaheer’s mental health.
case background
Norwegian, 27, was found murder On July 20 at a residence in the capital’s upscale Sector F-7/4. An FIR was registered on the same day against Zaheer – who was arrested from the murder spot – under section 302 (planned murder). Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of the victim’s father Shaukat Ali Mukadam, who is a retired Pakistani diplomat.
After an FIR was registered in the murder case, Zaheer’s parents and domestic staff were arrested on July 24 on charges of “hiding evidence and involvement in the crime”. She was made a part of the investigation based on the statement of Noor’s father.
Shaukat had said in his complaint that he had gone to Rawalpindi on July 19 to buy a goat for Eid-ul-Adha, while his wife had gone to get clothes from her tailor. When he returned home in the evening, the couple found their daughter Noor absent from their home in Islamabad.
They found his cellphone number switched off and started looking for him. According to the FIR, after some time, Noor called her parents to inform that she was going to Lahore with some friends and would be back in a day or two.
The complainant said that he later got a call from Zaheer, whose family members were known to him. The FIR states that the suspect had informed Shaukat that Noor was not with him.
At around 10 pm on July 20, the victim’s father got a call from Kohsar police station that Noor had been murdered.
According to the FIR, the police later took the complainant to Zaheer’s house in Sector F-7/4, where they found her “daughter has been brutally murdered with a sharp weapon and beheaded”.
Shaukat, who has identified his daughter’s body, has sought maximum punishment under the law against Zaheer for allegedly killing his daughter.
Police later said that Zaheer had confessed to killing Noor, while his DNA tests and fingerprints were also involved in the murder.
Six officers from the Therapy Works, whose employees had visited the murder site before the police, were also Nominated were more in the case Found guilty With six others, including Zaheer Jaffer’s parents, in October.
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