Islamabad: In a significant setback for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, a district and sessions court in Islamabad has rejected their pleas seeking suspension of their sentences in the iddat case. This ruling diminishes the former prime minister’s chances of early release.
Additional Sessions Judge Afzal Majoka delivered the verdict on Thursday at 3 pm, which had been reserved on Tuesday. The next hearing on the main plea for annulment of their conviction is scheduled for July 2.
Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were sentenced to seven years in prison each in February 2024 after a trial court found their nikah (marriage) to be fraudulent. The case was initiated by Khawar Maneka, Bushra’s ex-husband, who contended that their marriage took place before the completion of Bushra’s iddat period—an isolation period a woman must observe after divorce or the death of her husband according to Islamic law.
The controversy began when petitioner Muhammad Hanif claimed that Bushra Bibi married Imran Khan on January 1, 2018, before the end of her iddat period following her divorce in November 2017, which is against Sharia and Muslim norms. An initial plea was deemed inadmissible by a district and sessions court in Islamabad, but the case gained momentum after Maneka filed a formal complaint on November 25, 2023.
The couple was indicted on January 16, 2024, and after a 14-hour hearing, the trial court sentenced them to prison on February 3, 2024. The case was initially heard by Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand but was transferred to Judge Majoka upon Maneka’s request, citing a lack of confidence in Judge Arjumand.
The rejection of their pleas for suspension of the sentence means that both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi will remain incarcerated until at least the next hearing, further complicating the political landscape for PTI and its leadership.
Imran Khan is imprisoned in Adiala Jail solely due to the sentence in this case. The PTI founder has already been acquitted in the Toshakhana and Cipher cases and is out on bail in the £190 million reference and the May 9 cases.
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