The Supreme Court on Monday accepted the bail plea of AsamtAdamjee, mother of ZahirJaffer, the prime accused in murder of Noor Mukadam, against surety bonds of Rs 1 million.
The court also disposed of the bail of Zahir Jaffer’s father Zakir Jaffer over withdrawal of bail application.
The court turned down the request of Zahir’s parents to strike down the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) order in which it had rejected the bail pleas of Zahir’s parents.
A three-member SC bench comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed heard the case. The father and mother of the accused had filed two separate pleas in the top court through their counsel.
During the course of proceedings, the bench observed that the role of Zahir’s mother in the case was secondary.
Justice Bandial observed that prima facie, there was apparently no serious evidence available against the accused’s mother in the crime. Advocate General Islamabad Niaz Ullah Khan Niazi said that the record of phone calls made by AsmatAdamjee was available.
Justice Bandial asked why Therapyworks employees were called to the scene of the murder instead of police.
He said that the two accused, Asmat Adamjee and Zakir Jaffer, should be given the right to fair trial. He said that the court would not interfere in the ongoing trial in the high court.
Justice Qazi Amin said that a fair trial couldn’t be compromised at any cost. He said that criminal cases take a total of three days to be wrapped up, but were not completed even after the passage of two years.
Justice Bandial said that the court may issue directives for the case’s proceedings to be done on a daily basis.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah asked whether a test to determine the mental health of the prime suspect had been conducted.
Upon this Advocate Shah Khawar counsel for Noor Mukadam’s family said that Zahir had only been tested for drugs.
Khawaja Haris counsel for the accused said that a lot of case record had not yet been provided to the accused. He said that Zahir’s parents were not the main accused and faced charges of hiding the murder and not informing the police.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that the father of the accused might be directing on the call to commit the murder, or might be attempting to stop it.
Haris responded that the prime accused might not be telling his father the truth at all.
Shah Khawar said that the mother of the accused and the gatekeeper had a chat following Noor Mukadam’s jump from the terrace. He said that the accused woman could have prevented the murder if she wanted to do so. Justice Mansoor said that the parents of the accused were together while the conversations with the son took place.
He said apparently, the mother knew as much as the father about the incident. He said that court was granting her a bail on the basis that she was a woman and it would not go into the matter on the basis of merit.
