Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi's appeal seeking dismissal of Iddat case conviction rejected

PTI leader Omar Ayub condemns decision, announces party would challenge it

ISLAMABAD:

An Islamabad court on Thursday rejected former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi's appeal seeking suspension of their sentence in an illegal marriage case.

Islamabad Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka announced the order which was reserved after the conclusion of arguments by both the parties.

PTI leader Omar Ayub, addressing the media after the announcement of the verdict, condemned the court's rejection of the appeals and announced that the party would challenge the decision.

While hearing a plea filed by Bushra Bibi’s former husband Khawar Maneka, a district magistrate on February 3 convicted Bushra and Imran and sentenced them to seven years in prison for contracting marriage on January 1, 2018, without Bushra first observing the mandatory waiting—iddat—period.

The couple had challenged the judicial magistrate’s order in the court of Islamabad District and Session Judge Shahrukh Arjumand. However, the judge on May 29 referred the case to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for its transfer to another court after Maneka expressed a lack of trust in him.

The IHC later listed the case for hearing in the court of Islamabad Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka. On June 13, the IHC also ordered the court to decide the couple’s request for suspension of their sentence within ten days.

At the hearing of the case on June 21, Imran’s counsel Salman Akram Raja has contended that no one is allowed to peep into the private matters of a woman while referring to an earlier verdict written by a bench also comprising famous scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani, Raja said.