Imran, Bushra Bibi's Nikkah based on ‘fraud’: Aun Chaudhry

A witness to the marriage of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi has claimed in court that their marriage ceremony and Nikkah were based on "fraud".

Aun Chaudhry, who was the political secretary to former prime minister Imran Khan, appeared on Thursday in the district and sessions court for the hearing of the case related to the validity of the marriage during the iddat period of Bushra Bibi, Express News reported.

The iddat period is a waiting period that a Muslim woman must observe on account of the death of her husband or dissolution of the marriage.

The alleged un-Islamic Nikkah of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi was brought to light by a petition filed by Muhammad Hanif, a citizen of Pakistan. The hearing was presided over by Senior Civil Judge Nasr Minullah Baloch.

During the hearing, Aun Chaudhry provided his identification card and stated that he was the personal and political secretary of Imran Khan and was very close to him. He claimed to have overseen all of Imran Khan's political and personal affairs.

According to his statement, Imran's divorce from his previous wife, Reham Khan, took place in 2015, after Bushra Bibi told the former premier to give her divorce immediately.

"At the time, Reham Khan was not present in the country, but Imran Khan divorced her through email on the advice of Bushra Bibi," he said.

He disclosed that Imran was going through a lot of mental distress after his divorce and kept asking him to take him to Bushra Bibi, adding that a series of meetings between the two took place for several months before the marriage was announced.

Read more: Bushra Bibi married Imran during Iddat period: Nikkah registrar

"On December 31, 2017, Imran said to me that he was going to marry Bushra Bibi the next day. I was surprised and told him that Bushra Bibi was already married. Imran Khan said that Bushra Bibi had been divorced," he added.

Aun Chaudhry claimed Imran Khan instructed them for the preparations for the marriage on January 1, 2018, adding that he accompanied Mufti Saeed, , the cleric who solemnised the couple's Nikkah, and PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari to Lahore where Imran Khan's marriage was solemnised.

Chaudhry said that it was later discovered that the waiting period (iddat) had not been completed by January 1, 2018, when the marriage took place as Bushra Bibi was divorced in November 2017, so the waiting period had not been completed. He also said that Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were well aware of this and the matter had also made headlines.

"Imran Khan said that the waiting period would be completed on February 18, 2018, and asked me to make arrangements for the marriage on the same date. The waiting period had to be completed between February 14 or 18, 2018. Imran Khan's second Nikkah took place in Bani Gala whereas the first one had taken place in Lahore."

He revealed that Bushra Bibi had been given an “order” that if the Nikkah took place on the first day of 2018, Imran Khan would become the prime minister, adding that the date was chosen keeping in mind the “prediction”.

The court subsequently adjourned the hearing of the case until May 10.