Supreme Court cites UN data on violence against women as it rejects Zahir Jaffer’s final bid to escape death sentence

The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed Zahir Jaffer’s review petition against his death sentence in the Noor Mukadam murder case, ruling that he failed to provide evidence that could justify revisiting the earlier decision.

In a 12-page detailed judgment authored by Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, the court said its jurisdiction in a review petition under Article 188 of the Constitution was narrowly defined and could not be used as appeal against an earlier judgment.

The court held that a review could not be used to rehear a case, reassess evidence or reopen questions of fact already decided.

It said intervention was permissible only where an error was apparent on the face of the record, or where it was necessary in the interest of justice or to prevent abuse of the court’s process.

Earlier, Jaffer had sought to have his death sentence converted to life imprisonment, citing mental illness.

The top court said the plea had already been considered and rejected by the trial court, Islamabad High Court (IHC) and the SC.

The judgment noted that Jaffer’s lawyer Khawaja Haris Ahmed had relied on a letter from Dr Philip Hopley, a consultant psychiatrist in London. The document stated that Jaffer had been examined on April 21, 2015, and diagnosed with a drug-induced psychotic episode.

However, it also recorded that he underwent psychological treatment for about six months and subsequently made a full recovery.

The court said the record established that Jaffer had committed an “extremely heinous crime” and that the offence did not warrant reducing his sentence.

The judgment also addressed violence against women, saying Pakistan, as an Islamic Republic, had a constitutional duty to protect and uphold women’s rights.

It said Islam provided women with significant protection and respect and that subjecting women to violence and insecurity was contrary to both Sharia and worldly laws.

The court cited United Nations (UN) data showing that about 50,000 women and girls were killed by intimate partners or immediate family members in 2024.

It may be noted that Jaffer was sentenced to death by an Islamabad trial court on February 24, 2022. The Islamabad High Court upheld the sentence on March 14, 2025, while the SC confirmed it on May 20, 2025.