Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi's pleas seeking suspension of sentence in iddat case rejected

• PTI calls appeal rejection verdict "absolutely ridiculous".
• Judge Afzal Majoka announces reserved verdict on iddat case.
• No ground for suspension of sentence is available, reads verdict.

ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in Islamabad Thursday rejected the pleas seeking suspension of the sentences handed down to  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the iddat case.

The verdict drew strong condemnation from the PTI, which called it "absolutely ridiculous", and its leaders — who were hoping for Imran's release today — staged a protest outside the Adiala jail, where the court had been set up to ensure the security of the ex-prime minister.

Additional Sessions Judge Afzal Majoka announced the verdict today, reserved on Tuesday, with the hearing on the main plea related to the annulment of their conviction set to take place on July 2.

The PTI founder and Bushra were each sentenced to seven years in prison in February earlier this year after a trial court found their nikah to be fraudulent as Khawar Maneka, Bushra's ex-husband, moved the court against the couple's marriage.

In the 10-page order, the court mentioned that there was no reason to suspend the sentence.

"...[there is] no 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.

In response to the verdict issued by the lower court, PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan said: “[We] will challenge the verdict in the high court immediately.”

Following the announcement, PTI workers began protesting outside the district and sessions court and also blocked the road. The protesters include women, who chanted slogans in favour of the PTI founder.

Meanwhile, heavy police deployment was also present outside the court.

Khan, the deposed prime minister who was ousted from power via the opposition's no-confidence motion in April 2022, has been facing a slew of charges ranging from corruption to terrorism since his removal as the premier.

He has been behind bars since August last year after he was sentenced in the Toshakhana case and subsequently sentenced in other cases ahead of the February 8 elections.

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.

Khan has also been granted bail in the May 9 cases registered in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Faisalabad. On the other hand, the Federal Investigation Agency also twice interrogated him in the jail regarding an anti-state post shared on X, formerly Twitter. There is, however, no new case against the PTI founder.

The case

The case first came to surface 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 former husband Khawar 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.

The case was also earlier heard by Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand against whom Maneka had expressed a lack of confidence, seeking a transfer of the case to the court of Judge Majoka by the IHC.