2024-07-15 17:33:39
Islamabad: A Pakistani court on Saturday acquitted jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the un-Islamic marriage case, the only case that has kept the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party founder behind bars since August last year. However, barely an hour after his acquittal in the case, an anti-terrorism court in Lahore approved a request to arrest Khan in three cases linked to the May 9 violence last year.
What is Iddat marriage case?
Khan’s party described their arrest order as a “sham to prolong illegal detention”. On February 3, ahead of the February 8 general election, an Islamabad court had convicted the couple based on a complaint filed by Bushra Bibi’s former husband Khawar Farid Maneka, who had alleged that they had married during the former first lady’s iddat period. In Islam, a woman cannot remarry until four months after a divorce or the death of her husband.
The court acquitted Khan and Bushra Bibi
The couple had challenged the sentence in the district and sessions court in the capital Islamabad, where Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Afzal Majoka heard the case. The judge delivered the verdict in the afternoon, acquitting Khan (71) and Bushra (49). Accepting their appeal, the judge said, ‘If they are not wanted in any other case, Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi should be released (from jail) immediately.’
Imran Khan is in jail since August last year
This was the only case for which Khan is in jail, as his sentence in the Toshakhana corruption case was suspended and he was acquitted in the Sifar case. Khan has been in jail since August last year, when he was sentenced in the Toshakhana corruption case and subsequently in other cases ahead of the elections on February 8. Bushra’s ex-husband Maneka had filed a case against the couple in November 2023, alleging that they got married without observing the mandatory waiting period of Iddat. He requested the court to declare the marriage void. Khan and Bibi got married in 2018, the year Khan won the election and became the Prime Minister.
Spiritual guide turned wife
Bushra was Khan’s spiritual guide, but during the meetings, the love for each other grew between the two. Bushra had divorced her husband, with whom she had five children. Bushra Bibi is Imran Khan’s third wife. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Gauhar Khan welcomed the decision and said that it is a victory of independent judiciary. He said, ‘All these cases were fake and he will get justice in all other cases as well.’ Gauhar Khan said that Imran Khan should be released as this was the last case in which he is in jail.
ृ