Khawar Maneka seeks expert opinion in iddat case

Appellate court to hear Bushra Bibi’s former husband’s applications today

ISLAMABAD:

The counsel for Khawar Maneka, the former spouse of Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, has submitted two separate applications to an appellate court, requesting it to seek both medical and religious opinions on Bushra allegedly contracting a second marriage before completing her mandatory iddat period.

On Thursday, Islamabad District and Sessions Court Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka resumed hearing Imran and Bushra’s appeal against their conviction in the iddat case as the lawyers for Bushra and Imran concluded their arguments against a trial court’s February 3 order.

Bushra’s lawyer Khadija Siddiqi argued that a husband cannot determine when a woman's waiting period—iddat—and her three menstrual cycles are complete. A crime is established only when it is proven that the marriage took place during the iddat. 

“In April 2017, Khawar Maneka verbally divorced Bushra Bibi and she completed her iddat at her mother's home. She contracted marriage with [former prime minister] Imran Khan on January 1, 2018,” she said.

Rejecting Maneka’s claim that Bushra’s marriage was fraudulent, Khadija said, “Fraud always occurs between two parties, but it has not been clarified here with whom the fraud occurred.”

Imran’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar argued that the trial in the iddat case was completed in just two to three days. It was conducted with such urgency as if it were a gang rape case, he said.

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Safdar said even without mentioning the iddat period, the case could lead to acquittal. He urged the court to keep in mind the fact that the petitioner, Khawar Maneka, raised an objection to the marriage of his former wife after staying silent for 2,000 days. 

“According to the tampered document [provided by the petitioner], 48 days had passed since the divorce, yet no original documents were presented,” he said, adding that Imran’s former confidant Aun Chaudhry was made a prosecution witness as part of a scheme.

The court asked Khawar Maneka's lawyers to respond to the allegation of date tampering on the divorce certificate and instructed them to address in their arguments why the witness statements were not provided to the accused and to respond regarding the evidence.

Meanwhile, Maneka's lawyer, Zahid Asif, filed two applications in the court. The first application sought a medical opinion from a board of doctors on the completion of the iddat period by Bushra Bibi.

The second application sought opinions from the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), the Federal Shariat Court, and Islamic scholars on the matter of iddat. Judge Majoka issued notices to the parties on the applications and scheduled to hear them on July 11 (today).