Court says PTI founder and his wife should be immediately released if they are not wanted in any other case
Islamabad(Mudasssar Iqbal); Imran Khan,Bushra Bibi acquitted in Iddat case, In a significant legal victory, Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been acquitted by Additional District and Sessions Judge Afzal Majoka in the highly publicized nikkah during iddat case.
The court’s verdict annulled the indictment and ordered the immediate release of the couple, unless they are held in other cases. The court also dismissed the couple’s pleas against the indictment. The verdict was announced by Judge Afzal Majoka in the Islamabad district court, bringing an end to the legal battle in the illegal marriage case.
Judge Afzal Majoka has acquitted Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi in the nikkah during iddat case today, annulling the indictment in the case.
Judge Afzal Majoka announced the reserved verdict on the plea filed by Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi against the sentence in illegal marriage case in Islamabad’s district court.
Khawar Maneka’s counsel Advocate Zahid Asif and Imran Khan’s counsel Imran Sabir, Murtaza Tori and Zahid Dar appeared before the court.
Earlier, District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand, in a letter, requested the Islamabad High Court to transfer the case to another judge as he could not announce the verdict due to a lack of trust by petitioner Khawar Maneka.
It’s noteworthy that PTI founder and Bushra Bibi were indicted on Feb 3 by senior civil judge Qudratullah who sentenced them to seven-year imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 each in the ‘nikkah during iddat’ case.
Despite securing relief in other cases including £190 million reference and Toshakhana, and acquittal in the cipher case earlier this month, the former premier remains behind bars due to his conviction in the iddat case.
Other than these four cases, including the iddat case, the former PM isn’t under arrest in any other case and it would be intriguing to see whether today’s verdict will see Khan coming out of prison or not.
Khan has also been granted bail in several May 9 cases registered in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Faisalabad.
Last month, the Islamabad High Court, while hearing multiple pleas filed by the former first couple, had directed the district court to decide the pleas seeking the suspension of the sentence in 10 days and the pleas challenging the conviction in one month.
Following the IHC’s orders, Judge Majoka on June 27, rejected Khan and Bushra’s pleas seeking suspension of their sentence in the said case.
In the 10-page order, the court mentioned that there was no reason to suspend the sentence.
there isno ground for suspension of the sentence is available to both the petitioners. Accordingly, both the petitions under section 426 Cr.PC are dismissed,” it said.
The verdict drew strong condemnation from the PTI, which called it “absolutely ridiculous”, and its leaders — who were hoping for Imran’s release — staged a protest outside the Adiala jail, where the court had been set up to ensure the security of the ex-prime minister.
“We will challenge this verdict in the high court at once,” the National Assembly opposition leader had said while lamenting the politicisation and weaponisation of private matters between a husband and a wife.
The Iddat case issue first came to light when a petitioner, Muhammad Hanif, had claimed that Bushra Bibi was divorced by her former husband in November 2017 and married Khan on January 1, 2018, despite the fact that her iddat period — the time a woman goes into isolation after her husband dies or divorces her — had not ended, “which is against the Sharia and Muslim norms.”
A district and sessions court in Islamabad then rejected the plea. The court termed the petition “inadmissible” and said that it fell outside its jurisdiction, prior to which the petitioner withdrew his plea.
Later, Bushra’s ex-husband Maneka had filed a complaint against the “un-Islamic marriage” of Khan and Bushra in the court of Civil Judge Qudratullah on November 25, 2023, under the under Sections 34, 496, 496-B of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The couple were indicted in the iddat case on January 16, 2024. After a 14-hour hearing in the Adiala jail, the trial court reserved its verdict on February 2 and handed out seven years imprisonment each to Imran and Bushra on February 3.
In its 51-page detailed verdict, the court maintained that the record proves that both of the accused, Khan and Bushra, were in relation before the 2018 “fraudulent” nikah.
The couple then filed multiple pleas against their sentence and conviction in the said case.
Court Upholds 7-Year Imprisonment for Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi in Iddat Nikah Case
District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand, who was initially hearing the case, had reserved the verdict on pleas seeking sentence suspension on May 23 and was due to be announced on May 29.
However, owing to Maneka’s repeated expression of lack of confidence in him, Judge Arujmand wrote to the IHC to transfer Bushra and Khan’s appeals against conviction to another court.
After IHC’s approval for the transfer of case, Judge Majoka then took over the couple’s pleas.
