Court upholds Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi's sentences in Iddat case

A local court in Islamabad on Thursday rejected the pleas of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, seeking suspension of sentences awarded to them in the un-Islamic Nikkah case.

In January, Khawar Maneka, Bushra's ex-husband, had challenged the couple's marriage and had termed their nikah as fraudulent.

Maneka, in the petition, claimed that the marriage was solemnised during Bushra Bibi's iddat (the time a woman goes into isolation after a divorce or her husband's death).

Later, Islamabad's local court sentenced the veteran politician and his spouse to jail for seven years in the un-Islamic Nikah case on February 4.

Today, additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) Afzal Majoka announced the verdict, upholding the couple's sentences in the Iddat case.

The court, in its 10-page verdict, that there was no reason to suspend the sentence.

"...no ground for suspension of [the] sentence is available to both the petitioners. Accordingly, both the petitions under section 426 Cr.PC are dismissed," it said.

The cricketer-turned-politician was serving his jail terms in the Toshakhana case, cipher case, £190 million corruption case and Iddat case.

His sentences were suspended by the courts in the Toshakhana, cipher and Al-Qadir Trust corruption cases.

However, the cricketer-turned-politician will remain behind bars due to today's verdict.

It's pertinent to mention here that the veteran politicio has been in jail since August last year.