Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi to remain incarcerated in Adiala Jail as court denies their release in Iddat case

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi will remain incarcerated in Adiala Jail to serve out their prison terms in the Iddat case as the Islamabad District and Sessions Court dismissed their pleas on Thursday. 

On June 25, the local court reserved its decision on the request to suspend their sentences in the case while the hearing was adjourned until July 2.

The court sentenced former Prime Minister and his spouse Bushra Bibi to 7 years in prison and imposed Rs500,000 fine each for contracting unlawful marriage on February 3.

According to the verdict, the court finds no justification for suspending the sentence for either accused, adding that Bushra Bibi's gender is not a relevant reason in the bail decision.

The court stated that the length of the sentence awarded to the two accused is ample, and they have not yet served a substantial part of it.

Khan, along with his close aide and former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, was acquitted in the cipher case on June 3. Both leaders had been sentenced to 10 years in prison in January.

On May 30, the PTI founder was acquitted in two cases related to the May 9 violence. 

The 71-year-old politician and his spous were granted bail in the Toshakhana case by the Islamabad High Court in April.  However, the couple will remain behind bars in the "unlawful marriage case".

Khawar Maneka filed a case in the Islamabad High Court on November 25, 2023, accusing Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi of marrying while she was allegedly in Iddat and engaging in "illicit" relations with the PTI founder.

The complaint entailed accusations of the heinous offence of fornication and unlawful marriage.

Iddat is the three-month waiting period that a Muslim woman must observe following the death of her husband or divorce before remarrying.

He submitted a complaint against the ex-premier and his wife in an Islamabad court under sections 34 (common intention), 496 (marriage ceremony fraudulently conducted without lawful marriage), and 496B (fornication) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

He added that Imran and Bushra solemnised nikkah again in Feb 2018 after the emergence of the reports of the earlier one is illegal.

Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi recorded a joint statement of 342 in Rawalpindi court on Friday, which refuted Maneka’s allegations, maintaining that she received verbal triple divorce from her ex-husband in April 2017 and she completed her Iddat period till August.

In January 2018, she tied the knot with the PTI founder.