Pakistan court reserves verdict on petition against Imran Khan and his wife for violating marriage law
ISLAMABAD: A local court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi seeking a stay on a ruling that they had violated the country’s marriage law.
Khan and his wife were sentenced to seven years in prison and fined by a court in February for their illegal marriage in 2018. Bushra was accused of failing to complete the Islamically mandated waiting period, known as “iddat,” after divorcing her previous husband and marrying Khan.
The Khans signed their marriage contract (commonly known as “nikkah”) in a secret ceremony in January 2018, seven months before the former cricket superstar became prime minister for the first time. There was controversy over whether the couple married before the end of the Iddat period. After initially denying the marriage, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf confirmed it a few weeks later.
Both Khan and his wife have denied any wrongdoing in the Idat case.
“The court reserved its verdict till Thursday, June 27,” PTI said in a text message to reporters. “The bail petition in the Idat case was concluded today by lawyer Sulamant Safdar, representing former prime minister Imran Khan and former first lady Bushra Bibi.”
Khan is currently in jail and facing a series of legal challenges. As a convict, the 71-year-old cannot run in February’s general election because Pakistani law prohibits convicted persons from running for public office. Khan, perhaps Pakistan’s most popular politician, says all the cases against him are designed to bar him from politics.
The criminal complaint against Khan and Bushra’s marriage was filed by her ex-husband, Kawal Maneka, to whom she was married for almost 30 years.
Khan often refers to Bushra as his spiritual leader, and she is known to be a follower of Sufism, a mystical form of Islam.
She was born Bushra Riaz Wat but changed her name to Khan after marriage, and her husband and supporters call her Bushra Bibi or Bushra Begum, honorific titles in Urdu.
Khan’s two previous marriages, to Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of tycoon James Goldsmith, and to television journalist Reham Nayyar Khan, both ended in divorce.
