Court relief eludes Imran in Iddat case

Court rejects pleas seeking suspension of sentence

ISLAMABAD':

A district and sessions court on Thursday rejected an appeal filed by former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to suspend a February ruling that their 2018 marriage violated Islamic law.

Additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) Afzal Majoka announced the verdict, which had been reserved on Tuesday. The decision by the court means that the PTI founder and his wife will remain behind bars.

The seven-year jail sentence, handed on February 3, was announced five days before the country’s general elections and followed two other convictions for Khan in separate cases. Both have since been overturned.

In his written order, the judge cited older judgment and noted: “It can be said that as convict cannot claim bail as a matter of right even in bailable offence under section 426 [of] CrPC.

“Therefore on the same analogy it cannot be said that [a] women convict is entitled to bail under section 426 [of] CrPC like first proviso to sub-section (1) of section 497 [of] CrPC,” it added.

“Resume of above discussion is that no ground for suspension of sentence is available to both the petitioners. Accordingly, both the petitions under section 426 [of] CrPC are dismissed,” the order stated.

The marriage case against the couple was filed last year by Bibi’s former husband, Khawar Maneka, who alleged that his divorced wife did not observe the necessary three-month break required under Islamic law before marrying Khan.

Maneka claims he divorced his wife in November 2017. Khan announced his third marriage with Bibi in February 2018, months before he became the prime minister.

The couple filed multiple appeals against the conviction, seeking a suspension of the judgement. Another appeal by Khan and Bibi to annul the February conviction is expected to be heard from July 2.

Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan condemned the court’s decision and said an appeal would be filed.

In a statement on Wednesday, the party has warned that a new political crisis would grip the country if Khan was not released. “The former prime minister has been imprisoned for 11 months, while during this time he has been acquitted or granted bail in 18 different cases,” the PTI said in its statement.

Speaking to the media, he reiterated that no dialogue would be held with the government until all PTI leaders and workers had been released.

The PTI termed the development “absolutely ridiculous”. In a post on its official X account, the PTI said the case was “unprecedentedly despicable in both our country’s as well as Islamic history”, and had been “globally condemned and brought immense embarrassment to Pakistan”.

“Every single individual responsible for fabricating and carrying this case will go down in the dirtiest, darkest alleys of history,” it asserted.

Rana Sanaullah, a top leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) party, had recently alleged that Khan’s narrative was to sow chaos in the country.

Khan and his wife were previously handed a separate 14-year sentence in a case related to the illegal sale of state gifts, but in April their conviction was overturned by the Islamabad High Court.

Khan had also been sentenced to 10 years on charges of leaking state secrets, along with former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Earlier this month, the Islamabad High Court overturned that verdict, but Khan remained behind bars due to his conviction in the unlawful marriage case.