District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand will announce his reserved verdict on the appeals of PTI founding chairman Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, against their sentence in the Iddat case today.
In February, senior civil judge Qudratullah sentenced Imran and Bushra to seven years in jail and a Rs0.5 million fine each for “contracting marriage during the ‘Iddat’ (waiting period)” of the former first lady.
Bushra’s former husband, Khawar Maneka, alleged that his ex-wife violated the Islamic practice of observing the mandatory pause, or Iddat, before marrying Imran. He also accused them of an adulterous relationship before their marriage.
Iddat is a mandatory waiting period a Muslim woman must observe after her husband’s death or the dissolution of her marriage.
The PTI founding chairman and his wife challenged the order in an Islamabad district and sessions court. During the previous hearing, Bushra’s lawyer, Usman Riaz Gill, argued that Maneka filed the complaint six years later. Initially, Muhammad Hanif accused Imran and Bushra of marrying without completing the Iddat period, but he did not appear in court and had no connection to the case. In May 2023, a district and sessions court in Islamabad declared Hanif’s petition inadmissible.
Maneka filed a similar petition through the same lawyer, Advocate Raja Rizwan Abbasi. The allegation was that the second marriage occurred during the Iddat period following a divorce. However, the document presented was a photocopy. Gill provided guidelines to the court on determining its authenticity. He contended that the Iddat period had already been completed by the time the complaint was filed, making the marriage lawful. Bushra stated that the divorce occurred in April 2017, and she completed the Iddat period before remarrying.
Deputy District Prosecutor Adnan Ali argued that completing the Iddat period was essential for the marriage’s validity. He added that Maneka and Bushra were happily married for 28 years with five children until Imran interfered, leading to their divorce. Maneka intended to reconcile, but Bushra remarried during the Iddat period. He said the defense did not present videos of Maneka’s daughters, who opposed Bushra’s marriage to Imran.
The judge reserved his verdict.
