ISLAMABAD - A lower court on Saturday handed seven years imprisonment sentence to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in a case pertaining to their marriage during the period of latter’s ‘iddat’. The court also imposed a fine worth Rs500,000 on each accused.
Senior Civil Judge Qudratullah pronounced the short verdict which was reserved on Friday. PTI’s founder and Bushra Bibi were also present in courtroom at Adiala Jail when the decision was announced.
The civil court has reserved its verdict on Friday after hearing arguments also stated that it has been proven that the accused were meeting before the marriage after Khawar Maneka’s affidavit was submitted in the court about the couple’s meeting in 2014. It has been also proven that the accused met alone several times while Bushra Bibi was married to Khawar Maneka. According to the verdict, the couple has accepted that they met before marriage but didn’t have an illegitimate relationship. The detailed judgement also asked the question of whether a man and woman who are not “mehram” can meet without marriage or not. According to the golden rules of Islam, they can’t meet before marriage, and if they meet before marriage and it ends up in a marriage that would be considered fraudulent. The Nikah was done on January 1st, 2018 and the divorce was given on November 14th, 2017 so the Iddat period of 90 days was not completed and the marriage has been declared fraudulent under section 496 PPC. The Nikah ceremony done in mid-February was also declared fraudulent and it was done to show that the Iddat period of 90 days was over. The fraudulent marriage case was filed by Khawar Maneka on November 25th, 2023. After the witness testimonies were recorded their trial was moved to Adiala Jail since Imran Khan was already incarcerated and couldn’t be produced at the court because of security reasons. Charges were framed on January 16th, 2024 by the court. A stay was granted by Islamabad Hugh court on January 18th which later vacated on January 31st. Two marathon hearings of 26 hours on Thursday and Friday took place at Adiala jail and judgment was reserved for 1:00 pm Saturday. Judgment was announced around 3:30 pm and 50 pages detailed verdict was also issued by the county. Imran Khan after hearing has declared that the judgement has been given to defame and shame him. Bushra Bibi said that Allah has given his decision about Iddat in the Quran and today’s verdict is the Iblees verdict “This is a war of honour and dishnour,” she remarked in an informal discussion with journalists after the trial court sentenced her and Imran Khan to seven years in jail after declaring their marriage illegal and un-Islamic. She said Allah Almighty has explained all things about “Iddat” in holy Quran. She called the Friday’s ruling a “decision by Iblees (devil)”.