Justice Najafi links Noor Mukadam’s murder to ‘rise’ of ‘live-in relationships’

WEB DESK: Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, now a member of the Federal Constitutional Court, has issued a sharply worded additional note in the Noor Mukadam murder case, arguing that the tragedy stemmed from what he described as a growing “vice” in society which is ‘live-in relationships’.

The observation emerged after the judge’s note, appended to the Supreme Court ruling that upheld the death sentence of convict Zahir Zakir Jaffer earlier this year, became public. Noor, 27, was brutally murdered in Islamabad in July 2021. A trial court sentenced Zahir to death in 2022, a verdict subsequently upheld by the Islamabad High Court and later the Supreme Court.

Justice Najafi, who was on the three-member Supreme Court bench that rejected Zahir’s appeal in May, wrote that the case illustrated the “horrible consequences” of a relationship outside marriage. Such arrangements, he argued, disregarded social and religious boundaries and amounted to a “direct revolt against Almighty Allah.” He urged young people to reflect on the risks posed by abandoning what he termed “societal compulsions” and personal law.

The judge further noted that no mitigating circumstances existed in the case. Minor inconsistencies cited by the defence, including delays in the postmortem and in filing the FIR, or the absence of fingerprints on the murder weapon, did not, in his view, weaken a circumstantial evidence chain he described as “complete.” He highlighted forensic findings linking the rope and weapon to both Noor and the convict.

Noor’s murder triggered national outrage and led to a high-profile investigation. Zahir’s parents and several Therapy Works employees were initially indicted for allegedly attempting to conceal evidence but were later acquitted. Lawyer Nida Hosain took to her X formerly Twitter regarding the additional note:

The convict’s review petition is currently before the Supreme Court, though Justice Najafi issued his additional note just before assuming office at the newly formed Federal Constitutional Court.