ISLAMABAD: Zahir Zakir Jaffer, the man convicted of one of Pakistan’s most harrowing femicide cases, has filed a review petition at the Supreme Court to overturn his death sentence for the 2021 beheading of Noor Mukadam.
In the petition, filed under Article 188 of the Constitution and seen by Arab News on Wednesday, Jaffer argues that the May 2024 judgment upholding his death sentence contains “mistakes floating on the surface of the record.” He alleges that the court failed to consider material facts and due process violations that, if reviewed, would prove his innocence.
The petition argues that widespread social media coverage had fueled public hostility toward Jaffer during the investigation, trial, and appeals process, undermining his right to a fair trial. It also cites a ruling from another case to suggest that procedural errors occurred because the case was handled in haste.
“The impugned judgment may very graciously be reviewed, recalled and set aside,” the petition states, “and the petitioner may very graciously be acquitted of the charges or in the alternate, may be ordered to be re-tried afresh.”
The Supreme Court had previously declared the evidence against Jaffer “overwhelming” and found no merit in his insanity defense. But in this final legal challenge, Jaffer’s lawyers argue the case involved “misreading and non-reading of material evidence,” and claim that he was denied a fair trial.
Jaffer, a dual Pakistani-American citizen from a wealthy business family, was convicted of torturing and beheading Mukadam, the daughter of a former ambassador, at his Islamabad home in July 2021. The murder triggered national outrage, women-led protests, and rare scrutiny of elite impunity in Pakistan’s legal system
Jaffer was sentenced to death in February 2022 and lost appeals in the Islamabad High Court and Supreme Court. In its May ruling, the apex court said Jaffer had confined Mukadam for two days, ignored her pleas, and “beheaded her in a gruesome manner.”
“All the evidence pointed squarely to the petitioner,” the justices wrote, citing testimony from guards, digital records, and Mukadam’s attempts to flee the house.
The scope of review petitions in Pakistan is extremely narrow and restricted to identifying legal errors, not reassessing facts. Unless the Supreme Court admits the review, Jaffer’s last option will be a clemency request to the President of Pakistan, which the Mukadam family has vowed to challenge.
