On Saturday, an Islamabad court sentenced former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to seven years in prison each in a case involving their marriage during the latter’s Iddat period.
In a makeshift court at the Adiala district jail, senior civil judge Qudratullah delivered his decision on the complaint filed by Bushra’s former husband Khawar Fareed Maneka. The court also fined the couple Rs500,000 each.
According to the written order, a copy of which is available on Dawn.com, the two were found guilty of violating Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) Section 496 (fraudulent marriage ceremony without lawful marriage).
According to legal precedent, Section 496 is considered a separate offense from zina, which results from the failure to enter into a contract marriage.
The order also stated that if the two did not pay the fines, they would be imprisoned for an additional four months.
The verdict comes the same week that Imran and Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 14 years in the Toshakhana case. This week, Imran and fellow PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi were both sentenced to ten years in prison for the cipher case.
According to Pakistan’s superior courts, formalising nikah during iddat does not result in annulment of marriage because that requires an independent declaration; it will be treated as irregular but not illegal in terms of legal fiction.
Imran and Bushra Bibi can appeal the decision in the high court, which the PTI claims they are already planning to do.
Judge Qudratullah brought charges against Bushra Bibi and her ex-husband Khawar Farid Maneka in November, citing PPC Sections 34 (common intention), 496, and 496-B (fornication).
But later, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed the 496-B charge.
On January 19, a few days after Imran and Bushra were charged in the case, the IHC halted the proceedings against the couple and ordered the prosecution to stop presenting the case’s evidence.
The IHC declined to halt the case’s proceedings on Wednesday, stating that the trial court had already formed the charge. The couple did, however, receive some relief when the section 496-B of the PPC’s “illegitimate relations” charge—which the trial court had not properly framed—was dropped.
Bushra Bibi’s petition had been dismissed by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who noted that the “required procedure was not adopted” for citing section 496-B.
Imran angrily refuted rumors of an alleged deal that resulted in the Banigala residence being declared a “sub-jail” for the former first lady on Thursday, the day both were found guilty in the Toshakhana case.
Bushra had stated that she was contacted indirectly by the military establishment, but the conversation was deemed “futile” at first. She claimed she stayed away from them going forward.
Judge Qudratullah recorded the couple’s statements yesterday in accordance with Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (which grants the right to question the accused), reserving the verdict (CrPC).
The defense team had finished questioning Maneka, Aun Chaudhry, a witness to the Nikkah ceremony, and Mufti Saeed, the person who solemnized the Nikkah, during the proceedings. Maneka was also cross-examined by Imran’s counsel.
The defense team claimed during Mufti Saeed’s cross-examination that the witness was a member of the group behind the 1995 coup attempt known as “Operation Khalifa.”
The founder of PTI had acknowledged having backchannel communications with the establishment, but he maintained that he had turned down the offer. He rejected the claim once more that his wife was transferred to Banigala as part of an agreement to serve a 14-year sentence.
Imran had stated that the case had been expedited because “they want to create a narrative against my dream of establishing Pakistan on the principles of Riasat-i Madinah” in a message posted on his X account.
Will not accept a deal if it means dying: Imran
On the other hand, Imran Khan, the leader of the PTI, declared that he had never accepted and would never accept any deals with the ruling class. He even went so far as to declare that he would “choose death over making a deal with anyone.”
He declared, “I have not made a deal, nor will I ever make one,” in a brief interview with court reporters following the decision.
Additionally, Imran stated that the purpose of the case against him and his spouse, Bushra Bibi, was to “humiliate and disgrace” them both.
“This is the first time in history that an Iddat case has been filed,” he declared.
Imran said it was also the first time that someone was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in a Toshakhana case.
He said that his party’s top leadership was targeted right after the announcement of the election schedule.
“Now, election candidates are not even being allowed to run their campaigns,” he rued.
Will challenge verdict in high court: Barrister Gohar:
PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan told the media outside of Adiala Jail that the party will appeal the high court’s decision in the Iddat case and expressed believe that justice would be served.
He called the Iddat case “shameless and baseless,” adding that the purpose of these cases was to undermine Imran’s reputation.
During the cross-examination, we were not given the opportunity to present or produce any evidence. In less than ten minutes, the judge dismissed our acquittal, he declared, adding that the decision was made orally rather than in writing.
He pointed out that this was the first time in Pakistani history that an electoral symbol of a political party had been withdrawn and its intra-party elections contested.
He criticized the rate at which PTI members were being the targets of cases and the fact that each time the accused received the maximum sentence possible.
The case:
Maneka claimed to have been “happy married” to Bushra Bibi since 1989 “until Imran Khan’s getting into their marriage, “under the garb of peeri mureedi.” He recalled that during the PTI sit-in in Islamabad in 2014, they were introduced to Imran by his sister-in-law Maryam, who lives in the United Arab Emirates.
Maneka said that Imran then began to visit his house while he was away and that he would sometimes spend hours there. He claimed that Imran Khan’s behavior was extremely unethical and un-Islamic because he had no justification for staying, and that as time went on, the visits “became very frequent, and at one point, respondent No. 1 [Imran Khan] was ousted by me with disgrace.”
The petition claimed that even though Imran was never Bushra Bibi’s follower, he used to travel with his close friend Zulfi Bukhari. He said that Bukhari occasionally visited Maneka’s home by himself.
Maneka claimed that for the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi to stay in touch, her friend Farah Khan, also known as Farhat Shahzadi, gave the latter SIM cards and cell phones. “I have reason to believe that even before their alleged nikah, they have developed illicit relations with each other.”
He claimed that the couple had argued about his ex-wife’s behavior and that she had “come up with a cover-up story of spiritualism.”
For the benefit of my family, I did everything in my power to make things right,” Maneka said, adding that he and Imran remained in contact until November 14, 2017, when he “half-heartedly divorced” Bushra Bibi.
Maneka stated that he was still interested in reconciling with his mother even after the divorce, but that “my plans of reconciliation were frustrated due to [their] premature nikah,” which was purportedly solemnized without following the iddat period.
Maneka stated that he “flatly refused” to change the date on the divorce papers when Farah Khan contacted him a month after their divorce.
He said that Imran Khan had ruined his life and made his whole family a laughingstock. He asserted that, in violation of Islamic law, the former prime minister and Bushra Bibi “committed an awful crime by having illicit relations with each other before marriage and contracting nikah during the iddat period.”
“I decided not to report the issue because I saw it as a family matter. However, things have now become public, which is why I am in court,” Maneka continued.
