Big relief for PTI: Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi acquitted in iddat case

ISLAMABAD: After months of their continuing legal woes, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi's got much relief as a district and sessions court on Saturday accepted their pleas seeking annulment of their conviction in the iddat case — also known as the un-Islamic nikah case.

Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka announced short order reserved earlier in the day today.

The PTI founder and Bushra were sentenced to seven years in prison and awarded a fine of Rs500,000 each, 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.

The couple had then challenged their conviction and had even moved the IHC seeking varying relief from the court.

In the 28-page verdict, while referring to Maneka's lawyer's argument that his client was deprived of the right of Ruju — time period to normalise the relationship within the duration of iddat after divorce — the court highlighted that Maneka "remained passive for about six years" and due to that his right Ruju was in fact already expired.

Stressing Maneka's failure to prove his case against both Khan and Bushra, the court said: "They [Khan and Bushra] are directed to be released forthwith if not required to be detained din any other case."

"Both the petitions seeking the formation of a medical board and consultations with the religious scholars are hereby rejected," the verdict stated.

The verdict holds significance for Khan who has been behind bars since August last year after he was sentenced in the Toshakhana criminal 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 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.

On June 27, Judge Majoka 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 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.

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," National Assembly Opposition Leader and PTI's Secretary-General Omar Ayub said while lamenting the politicisation and weaponisation of private matters between a husband and a wife.

Overview of Iddat case

The Iddat case issue first came to light 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, 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.

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.