Pakistani court rejects Imran Khan and his wife’s appeal for parole in illegal marriage case

Islamabad: A Pakistani district court on Thursday rejected the appeal of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi for suspension of their prison sentences in the illegal marriage case.

The former couple were sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of Rs 500,000 each by a district and sessions court on February 3 in the case known as the Iddat case for entering into the marriage during the period in which a Muslim woman can expect to marry a second time after divorce or the death of her husband.

Additional District and Sessions Judge ADSJ Afzal Majoka had, after conducting the hearing, deferred the verdict for the conclusion of the proceedings on Tuesday.

When he delivered the verdict in a packed courtroom on Thursday, rejecting the couple’s appeals, he dashed hopes of their release from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where they were being held. While Khan, 71, faces multiple cases, his 49-year-old wife Bushra faces several cases.

Bibi’s ex-husband Khawar Maneka had filed a lawsuit against the couple in November 2023, claiming that they had married without Bibi observing the mandatory waiting period (Iddat). He asked the court to declare the marriage null and void.

The couple had previously challenged the conviction before District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand, who, however, recused himself from the case at a time when the hearing had already ended and the court was about to pronounce the verdict.

The case was transferred to ADSJ Majoka last week and the Islamabad High Court ordered the court to decide within 10 days.

Khan and Bibi married in 2018, the year Khan won the election and became prime minister.

Bibi was supposedly his spiritual guide, but the two developed affection for each other during their meetings. She divorced her husband, with whom she was married for 28 years and had five children.

She is the third wife of Khan, a former cricket hero who was considered a playboy during his heyday.