Primary accused in the Noor Mukadam murder case, Zahir Zakir Jaffer, has again refused to receive legal representation, saying that his lawyer, namely Babar, will represent him in the case.
During the hearing of the case on Wednesday, Additional District & Sessions Judge Ata Rabbani instructed a lawyer named Malik Amjad to get the power of attorney signed by Zahir.
However, despite the judge’s directives, Zahir did not sign the document and refused to authorise Amjad as his attorney, saying: “He is not my lawyer. I won’t sign. My lawyer is Babar, who is a barrister [and] he is coming.”
Amjad was recommended by a relative of the accused.
Following Zahir’s refusal to grant consent for legal representation as well as the no-show of the attorney he wanted appointed, the judge remarked that his signature should now be secured at the jail.
27-year-old Noor Mukadam, daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat, was found beheaded in a posh neighbourhood of Islamabad on July 20. Police had charged Zahir, a US national and scion of one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families, with murder.
After the arrest of the accused, the police had decided to add relevant clauses of the law in the case.
The case of Noor’s murder had sparked nationwide outrage with thousands of people calling on the authorities to take the case to its logical end.
