PIMS team declares Zahir Jaffer mentally fit

ISLAMABAD: A two-member team of doctors from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) has declared Zahir Jaffer — convicted for murdering Noor Mukadam — mentally fit, sources at PIMS told Hum News English.

Dr Shafqat Nawaz, head of the PIMS medical team, categorically stated in his report that Zahir Jaffer is mentally fit and stable, with no evidence of any focal neurological disorder.

The medical examination was conducted at the request of the Adiala jail administration, following the Supreme Court’s upholding of Zahir Jaffer’s death sentence.

The jail authorities had sought a medical evaluation from PIMS as part of the formal process for submitting a mercy petition on behalf of the convict to the President of Pakistan.

Earlier this week, the two-member PIMS team visited Adiala Jail to carry out the assessment, PIMS administration confirmed.

According to PIMS officials, the medical report has been forwarded to the relevant jail authorities.

The jail superintendent had sent two letters to PIMS in July requesting formation of a medical board to assess his mental health, a mandatory step before submitting the mercy plea of Jaffer who remains on death row after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction in May 2025 for the brutal 2021 murder of Noor Mukadam.

Can Zahir Jaffer still escape death penalty?

Despite the Supreme Court’s final verdict upholding Zahir Jaffer’s death sentence, constitutional provisions still allow for potential relief through presidential clemency. Article 45 of Pakistan’s Constitution empowers the President to grant pardons, reprieves or respites, and to remit, suspend or commute any court-ordered sentence, including capital punishment.

This legal avenue remains available now that all judicial appeals have been exhausted, though historical precedent suggests such interventions are exceptionally rare in death penalty cases. The constitutional clause specifically states that “the President shall have power to grant pardon, reprieve and respite, and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or other authority,” leaving this as Jaffer’s last possible recourse to avoid execution following the conclusion of his appeals process.