An Islamabad district and sessions court dismissed a petition contesting the marriage of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to Bushra Bibi. The court declared the application “inadmissible” and beyond its jurisdiction, as it pertained to the issue of marriage during iddat, a waiting period observed by Muslim women after a divorce or the death of their spouse.
Senior Civil Judge Nasrum Minallah announced the decision, which had been reserved, on the case that was heard today.
The petitioner’s lawyer, Raja Rizwan Abbasi, questioned the legality of Khan’s marriage to Bushra Bibi and why he remarried her if their initial marriage was legal. Abbasi maintained that marriage during iddat was “illegal.”
He further argued, “Claiming that you will become prime minister if you marry on the first day of 2018 is fraudulent. In January 2018, Bushra Bibi was in her iddat period. The divorce occurred in November,”
The judge questioned the court’s jurisdiction over the matter as Imran Khan’s marriage occurred in Lahore. In response, Abbasi argued that the alleged fraud began in Bani Gala, Islamabad, and the officiator of the Nikah was also from Islamabad. Furthermore, he said, “Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s marriage was officiated again in February 2018.”
Earlier this month, during the hearing, former PTI leader Aun Chaudhry claimed that Khan’s third marriage to the former first lady was based on fraud. Chaudhry, currently an adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on sports and tourism, alleged that Khan divorced Reham Khan via email on Bushra Bibi’s counsel.
Chaudhry claimed that Bushra Bibi had told Khan that marrying her would secure him the prime minister’s position. He also claimed that Khan knew Bushra Bibi’s iddat period had not ended when they married. He recounted how he arranged Khan’s wedding ceremony upon his request and revealed that when the news of the marriage surfaced in the media during Eid-ul-Fitr, the ceremony was conducted again on February 18.
