IHC orders Iddat case decision in a month

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the additional sessions court of Islamabad to decide the appeals of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi against their conviction in the Iddat Nikkah case in one month.

IHC Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb, who heard a petition of the couple, also ordered the additional sessions judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka to decide the applications of Bibi for suspension of sentence within 10 days.

On February 3, Imran and Bibi were sentenced in the Iddat Nikkah case. Twenty days later, the appeal against the verdict was filed in the sessions court. Judge Shahrukh Arjumand heard the appeal but on May 29, he requested the IHC to send the case to another judge.

The PTI founder and Bibi approached the IHC against the transfer of the appeal to Additional Sessions Judge Majoka. They requested the IHC to transfer the appeal back to Islamabad District and Sessions Judge Arjumand.

Salman Akram Raja, the counsel for the petitioners, requested the IHC to instruct Sessions Judge Arjumand to deliver his reserved ruling on the appeal or the IHC itself hear the matter instead of judge Majoka. He also suggested a third option: transfer of the appeal to another sessions judge.

Rizwan Abbasi, the lawyer for Khawar Maneka, the original complainant in the Iddat Nikkah case, opposed Raja’s contention. He informed the court that Maneka’s no-confidence plea was rejected by judge Arjumand. However, Maneka repeated his stance and the judge transferred the case.

Abbasi further argued that the case was transferred to Judge Majoka through an administrative order of this court, which could not be challenged, directly or indirectly. He opposed the request for transfer of the case from judge Majoka to any other court.

After the arguments were completed, Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb ordered the additional district and sessions judge to decide on the request for suspension of sentence within 10 days and the Iddat Nikkah case appeal within a month.

The appeals were also heard in the court of Judge Majoka, where PTI’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja and Barrister Salman Safdar appeared in the court. Advocate Usman Gul also appeared in the court to represent Maneka.

The judge heard the pleas for early hearing of the appeal and suspension of Bibi’s sentence. Raja requested the court to fix the matter for hearing on Friday (today). However, the judge told the lawyer he was scheduled to visit a jail, therefore, the hearing should be fixed for Saturday.

The judge remarked that during previous hearings of the case, no-trust was reposed in the judge twice, and the case had been transferred to him. He said that he could not take a decision that caused difficulties. Later, the judge adjourned the hearing till Friday (today) morning.