IHC stops trial court from testifying witnesses in Imran-Bushra nikah case

• IHC has adjourned the case till January 25.
• Nikah took place 48 days after divorce, says Raja.
• He says Supreme Court verdict available regarding iddat.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday stopped the trial court from recording statements of witnesses in the case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi’s solemnising nikah in an unIslamic way, Geo News reported.

The directives were issued by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq during today's hearing of the case.

Imran, who was removed from prime minister’s office in April 2022, and his wife have denied all charges in the case registered by Bushra's former husband, Khawar Maneka, in November 2023.

At the hearing’s outset, Imran and Bushra’s counsel Barrister Salman Akram Raja apprised the court that the entire district judiciary was present in Adiala Jail to record statements of witnesses.

The IHC chief justice then directed him to provide details of the case as he would stop the trial court from recording the witnesses' statements. 

Even if the witnesses’ statements were accepted, the nikah took place 48 days after the divorce, Raja said.

The court inquired what was the duration of iddat (the intervening period before the next marriage). The barrister replied usually it was 90 days but Islamic jurisprudent and noted scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani had given a clarification in the said period.

He also said a Supreme Court verdict was available regarding iddat. 

CJ Farooq said let’s suppose the SC ruling was not available then what was he challenging in the petition. The counsel replied he had challenged the summon issued to Imran and Bushra in the case.

The chief justice said as per the law, if nikah was solemnised during iddat then it was regularised later. He wondered what the crime was even if the nikah was not formal.

The high court issued a notice to Bushra's ex-husband, Khawar Maneka, and adjourned the case till January 25.

On January 15, a local court had indicted Imran and his wife in the case of solemnising their marriage against Islamic laws.

Senior Civil Judge Qudratullah had read out the charges in the court set up in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail.