ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court in Pakistan’s capital city rejected Thursday jailed former PM Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi‘s appeal seeking suspension of their sentences in a case involving violation of Islamic law governing marriage.
On Feb 3, five days ahead of the general elections that Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lost, a trial court ruled that the cricketer-turned-politician’s marriage to Bushra Bibi – his third wife – was solemnised without adhering to the stipulated iddat period.The couple was sentenced to seven years in jail.
The petition was filed by Bushra Bibi’s ex-husband, Khawar Fareed Maneka, alleging that his estranged wife did not wait three months, as required under Islamic law after divorce or a spouse’s death, before marrying again.
Maneka said he divorced his wife in Nov 2017. Imran announced his marriage to Bushra Bibi in Feb 2018, months before he became PM.
Thursday’s verdict drew condemnation from Imran’s party, which called it “absolutely ridiculous”. Functionaries and party workers protested outside Adiala jail, where a court had been set up for Imran’s trial.
MP Omar Ayub Khan said PTI would appeal the decision in a higher court.
In a post on X, the party said the trial court’s verdict had already been “globally condemned and brought immense embarrassment to Pakistan”.
“Every single individual responsible for fabricating and carrying this case will go down in the dirtiest, darkest alleys of history,” it wrote.
Imran has been battling a slew of charges ranging from corruption to terrorism since his removal from the prime ministership through a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022.
He has been behind bars since August last year after being sentenced in the Toshakhana (state treasury) and two other cases. He was acquitted earlier this month in the cipher case, related to the disclosure of a classified cable sent to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington in 2022 and got bail in another.
Imran remains in jail due to his conviction and sentencing in the iddat case.
On Feb 3, five days ahead of the general elections that Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lost, a trial court ruled that the cricketer-turned-politician’s marriage to Bushra Bibi – his third wife – was solemnised without adhering to the stipulated iddat period.The couple was sentenced to seven years in jail.
The petition was filed by Bushra Bibi’s ex-husband, Khawar Fareed Maneka, alleging that his estranged wife did not wait three months, as required under Islamic law after divorce or a spouse’s death, before marrying again.
Maneka said he divorced his wife in Nov 2017. Imran announced his marriage to Bushra Bibi in Feb 2018, months before he became PM.
Thursday’s verdict drew condemnation from Imran’s party, which called it “absolutely ridiculous”. Functionaries and party workers protested outside Adiala jail, where a court had been set up for Imran’s trial.
MP Omar Ayub Khan said PTI would appeal the decision in a higher court.
In a post on X, the party said the trial court’s verdict had already been “globally condemned and brought immense embarrassment to Pakistan”.
“Every single individual responsible for fabricating and carrying this case will go down in the dirtiest, darkest alleys of history,” it wrote.
Imran has been battling a slew of charges ranging from corruption to terrorism since his removal from the prime ministership through a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022.
He has been behind bars since August last year after being sentenced in the Toshakhana (state treasury) and two other cases. He was acquitted earlier this month in the cipher case, related to the disclosure of a classified cable sent to Islamabad by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington in 2022 and got bail in another.
Imran remains in jail due to his conviction and sentencing in the iddat case.