Pak ex-PM Imran Khan, wife pleas seeking sentence suspension in 'un-Islamic' marriage case rejected
Pakistan former Prime Minister Imran Khan and wife Bushra Bibi. Source: AP
Pakistan ex-prime minister Imran and his wife Bushra Bibi pleas seeking suspension of their seven-year sentences in the Iddat case have been rejected by an Islamabad district and sessions court on Thursday.
Additional district and sessions judge Afzal Majoka announced the verdict on Thursday which was reserved on June 25. The hearing on the central plea related to the annulment of their conviction is set to take place on July 2.
On February 3 this year, days ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, Imran and his wife were each sentenced to seven years in prison after a trial court found their nikah (marriage) to be fraudulent as Khawar Maneka, Bushra's ex-husband, moved the court against the couple's marriage.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and his wife were also imposed Rs 500,000 fine each for contracting marriage during Bushra's Iddat period.
The case first came to fore when a petitioner, Muhammad Hanif, had claimed that Bushra was divorced by her former husband in November 2017 and married Khan on January 1, 2018.
Bushra Bibi is Imran's third wife. As per Hanif, Imran got married to Bushra despite the fact that her Iddat period had not ended, "which is against the Sharia and Muslim norms."
The same year, the Khan won elections and become the prime minister of Pakistan.
For the unversed, Iddat is the time period when a woman goes into isolation after her husband dies or divorces her.
Rejecting the plea, the court termed the petition “inadmissible” and said it fell outside its jurisdiction, prior to which the petitioner withdrew his plea.
Later, Khawar Maneka had filed a complaint against the "un-Islamic marriage" of Imran and Bushra in the court of Civil Judge Qudratullah on November 25, last year.
On January 16, the couple were indicted in the Iddat case. After a 14-hour hearing in the Adiala jail, the trial court reserved its verdict on February 2 and handed out seven years imprisonment to each of them.
The conviction of Imran and Bushra in Iddat case was widely criticised by civil society, women activists and lawyers for being a “blow to women’s right to dignity and privacy”.
In Islamabad, activists had protested against the verdict, demonstration against the “state’s intrusion into people’s private lives” was carried out in Karachi.
The court's verdict on Thursday also drew strong condemnation from the PTI, which called it "absolutely ridiculous", and its leaders staged a protest outside the Adiala jail, where the court had been set up to ensure the security of the ex-prime minister.
With inputs from agencies