Ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan, wife Bushra Bibi acquitted in illegal marriage case

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were on Saturday (July 13) acquitted by a court in the illegal marriage (iddat) case. A report by Geo News said that a district and sessions court in Islamabad accepted Khan and Bibi's pleas seeking annulment of their conviction in the case. The order was announced by Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka.

In February, Khan and Bibi were sentenced to seven years in prison and awarded a fine of $1,798 (around PKR 500,000) after a trial court found their 'nikah' to be fraudulent as Khawar Maneka, Bushra's ex-husband, moved the court against the couple's marriage.

The former PM and his wife challenged their conviction and even moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking varying relief from the court.

The verdict

On Saturday, Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka said that Khan and Bibi should be immediately released from jail if they were not wanted in any other case. "Both the petitions seeking the formation of a medical board and consultations with the religious scholars are hereby rejected," the district and sessions court said in its verdict, Geo News reported. 

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The court's verdict is a big relief for Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

With the Toshakhana case sentences suspended and acquittal in the cipher case, the former prime minister was incarcerated at the Adiala Jail in the Iddat case only. 

However, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Khan and wife in a new case pertaining to Toshakhana. 

An overview of the case

The illegal marriage case came to light when a petitioner claimed that  Bibi was divorced by her former husband Maneka in November 2017 and married Khan in January 2018, even though her iddat period had not ended.

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The petitioner's plea was rejected by the district and sessions court in Islamabad. Geo News reported that later Maneka filed a complaint against the "un-Islamic marriage" of Khan and Bushra in the court of Civil Judge Qudratullah on November 25, 2023 under relevant sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Khan and Bibi were indicted in the case on January 16 this year. 

Following a hearing in the Adiala Jail, the trial court reserved its verdict on February 2 and handed out seven years' imprisonment each to Imran and Bushra on February 3.

(With inputs from agencies)