Pakistan’s former PM Imran, wife Bushra handed 7-year jail sentences in ‘unlawful’ marriage case

Tariq Butt, Correspondent / Agencies

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on Saturday were handed a seven-year sentence each by a court in the un-Islamic nikah case.

Senior Civil Judge Qudratullah, a day after the case's hearing was conducted inside the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi for 14 hours, pronounced the verdict at the same venue on Saturday. He declared the marriage illegal and un-Islamic.

The couple have also been fined Rs500,000 ($1,800) each. Both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced. The court had reserved its decision after the arguments were completed on Friday.

This was the fourth sentencing of Imran Khan, the previous three being the Toshakhana case, cipher case and another. Senior PTI leader rejected the verdict and said it was part of Imran Khan’s witch hunting. He said the PTI would not be cowed down by such tactics.

The verdict comes ahead of Feb.8 parliamentary elections in which Imran has already been disqualified because of his graft convictions.

The lawyer for the couple, Intisar Panjutha, said the verdict was announced by Judge Qudratullah a day after the trial ended. Imran and his family insist the trial is politically motivated.

The prosecution said Imran and his wife violated the law that a woman must wait three months before marrying again.

The ruling was condemned by Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party. "A court has declared the marriage of former prime minister Imran Khan & Busra Bibi illegal with 7 years imprisonment each," PTI said in a statement.

"This shameful case is illogical. All of this is happening for political goals," said Imran Khan's lawyer and PTI head Gohar Ali Khan, adding that the conviction and jail terms would be challenged in court.

"This is a bogus case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, but still they were given maximum prison sentence by the court," he said.

"The charges of corruption and now these ones are an attempt to raise moral questions on his character," lawyer Sabahat Rizvi, who was not involved in the case, told AFP Saturday.

"They are targeting him because they could not diminish his aura."

Bushra Bibi, who has been placed at the couple's Banigala residence following its status declared as a sub-jail after her sentencing to 14 years rigorous imprisonment in the Toshakhana case,, was brought to the Adiala Jail for the final hearing with Imran Khan and their lawyers in attendance.

The court has been hearing the case on the petition filed by Bushra Bibi's ex-husband Khawar Maneka against what he refers to as her "un-Islamic and illegal nikah" with the former prime minister.

The verdict was issued after cross-examination of the statements given by the four witnesses in the case was completed. The statements of Khan and Bushra Bibi under Section 342 were also recorded.

The complainant's counsel Raja Rizwan Abbasi, Khan's lawyer Salman Akram Raja and Bushra Bibi's lawyer Usman Gul also gave their final arguments a day earlier.

Maneka, in his petition, had termed Bushra and Khan’s nikkah "fraudulent” contending that the marriage was solemnised during her iddat — following her divorce with him.

"That nikah and the marriage ceremony was neither legal nor Islamic as was it solemnised without observing iddah period,” read the petition.

Bushra Bibi, Imran Khan's third wife, was a spiritual healer who was previously married to a man who had claimed that they divorced in November 2017, less than three months before she married Imran Khan. Bushra Bibi has said their divorce was in August 2017.

Imran Khan previously was married to socialite Jemima Goldsmith and journalist Reham Khan, and both Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi during the trial repeatedly denied that they violated the three-month waiting period. It's a requirement of the Islamic law that is upheld by Pakistan.

Imran Khan is currently serving multiple prison terms at Adiala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where his trials were held because of security concerns.