Islamabad: A Pakistan district court Thursday rejected appeals by former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi to suspend their sentences in the illegal marriage case.
The former couple was sentenced to seven years in jail with a fine of Rs 5,00,000 each February 3 by a district and sessions court in the case, popularly known as Iddat case, for contracting marriage during the period when a Muslim woman should wait after divorce or death of her husband before second marriage.
Additional district and sessions judge ADSJ Afzal Majoka, after conducting the hearing, had reserved the verdict on the conclusion of the process Tuesday.
On Thursday, as he announced the verdict to a packed courtroom, and rejected the pleas filed by the couple, it dashed hopes of their release from the Adiala Jail at Rawalpindi where they have been imprisoned. While 71-year-old Khan is slapped with several cases, his wife Bushra, 49, is facing a couple of cases.
The case was filed by Bibi’s ex-husband Khawar Maneka against the couple in November 2023, alleging that they married without Bibi observing the mandatory waiting period of iddat. He asked the court to declare the marriage null and void.
Earlier, the couple had challenged the conviction before district and sessions judge Shahrukh Arjumand, who recused himself at a time when the hearing had been concluded and the court was supposed to announce the verdict.
The case was last week transferred to ADSJ Majoka and the Islamabad High Court ordered the sessions court to decide in 10 days.
Khan and Bibi married in 2018, the year Khan went on to win elections and become prime minister.
Bibi was ostensibly his spiritual guide but the two developed affection for each other during their meetings. She got divorced from her husband of 28 years with whom she had five children.
She is the third wife of Khan, a former cricketing hero, who during his heydays of sporting career had a playboy reputation.
