Islamabad: The Supreme Court has upheld Zahir Jaffer’s death sentence for the murder of Noor Mukadam, closing the latest judicial challenge to his conviction and leaving a possible presidential mercy petition as the next legal avenue.

The apex court dismissed Jaffer’s review petition on June 4, maintaining its earlier decision upholding the death sentence for Noor’s murder. The detailed judgment released in August said the seriousness of the crime did not justify reducing his punishment and stressed that a review petition could not be used to reopen issues already decided by the court.

Jaffer had sought a reduction of his death sentence to life imprisonment, including on grounds related to mental illness. The Supreme Court found that he had not presented material sufficient to justify reviewing its earlier decision.

The next possibility is a petition for mercy to the president under Article 45 of the Constitution, which allows the president to grant a pardon, reprieve, remission, suspension or commutation of a sentence.

Jaffer had already been preparing for this route. In July 2025, Adiala Jail authorities requested medical and psychiatric assessments of him, stating that the reports were required for a presidential mercy petition. At the time, the petition was described as being in preparation.

However, there is an important distinction between preparing a mercy petition and formally filing one. Current reporting does not establish that Jaffer has submitted a mercy petition to President Asif Ali Zardari.

The case began with Noor Mukadam’s murder at Jaffer’s Islamabad residence in July 2021. Noor, 27, was found dead at the property after being subjected to severe violence. Jaffer was sentenced to death by a trial court in February 2022, and the Islamabad High Court (IHC) later upheld the sentence.

In May 2025, the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence for murder but changed other parts of the punishment. His death sentence for rape was commuted to life imprisonment, while the kidnapping conviction was altered to a one year sentence for wrongful confinement.

The case has therefore reached a significant legal juncture. The Supreme Court has rejected the final judicial review available to Jaffer, but the Constitution provides a separate executive power that could still affect the sentence.

For Noor Mukadam’s family and those following the case, the next question is no longer whether the Supreme Court will reconsider the conviction. It is whether the presidential mercy process will now be formally invoked, and if so, what decision will follow.