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

Islamabad, June 27 (PTI) – A Pakistani court on Thursday rejected the appeal of Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi for parole from their prison sentences in the illegal marriage case, in a major setback for the controversial former prime minister who had hoped for release from prison.

On February 3, a few days before the February 8 general elections, an Islamabad court convicted the couple based on a complaint filed by Bushra Bibi’s ex-husband Khawar Fareed Maneka, who claimed that the marriage between the two took place during the former first lady’s Iddat period.

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In Islam, a woman is not allowed to remarry until four months after the divorce or death of her husband.

In his plea, Maneka asked the court to declare the marriage null and void.

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Additional District and Sessions Judge Afzal Majoka had deferred his judgment to conclude the case after the hearing on Tuesday.

When he delivered the verdict before a packed court on Thursday and dismissed the couple’s pleas, he dashed hopes of their release from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where they were being held.

In its 10-page order, the court said there was no reason to stay the judgment. “… (there is) no reason to stay the judgment in favour of either the petitioner. Accordingly, both the petitions under Section 426 Cr.PC are dismissed,” it said.

Khan, 71, has been behind bars since August last year after being convicted in the Toshakhana corruption case and subsequently in other cases ahead of the February 8 elections.

The sentence in the Toshakhana corruption case was suspended in April, while Khan was acquitted in the cipher case earlier this month. Hence, both Imran and Bushra remain incarcerated in Adiala Jail only on account of the Iddat case.

After the verdict, PTI workers started protesting in front of the district and court buildings and blocked the road.

Reacting to the verdict, opposition leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub said Khan’s party would challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court in Islamabad.

In an interview with the media, he reiterated that there would be no talks with the government until all politicians and workers of the Pakistan Movement for Justice (PTI) were released. Khan’s party described this development as “absolutely ridiculous”.

A post on PTI’s official X-account said the case was “despicable beyond compare both in the history of our country and in the entire Islamic history” and was “condemned worldwide and has brought enormous shame to Pakistan”.

“Every single person responsible for inventing and carrying out this case will perish in the dirtiest and darkest alleys of history,” it said.

PTI spokesman Raoof Hasan on Thursday reacted strongly to the verdict, describing it as a total injustice and a blatant display of total disregard for justice.

Hasan said Khan and Bushra would immediately approach the Islamabad High Court to challenge the shameful verdict handed down to Afzal Majoka in this “fabricated, baseless and false case” in which every word and sentence of the verdict clearly shows injustice and vindictiveness.

He complained that Pakistan was completely under fascist rule and the country’s judicial system was at the mercy of “state miscreants and crooks,” indirectly referring to the military. Hasan stated that the heinous case had been used as a justification for keeping Imran Khan and his wife in jail, which was evident from the blatant violation of law and order in the case at every step since day one.

Earlier, the former First Couple had challenged the conviction before District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Shahrukh Arjumand, who, however, recuse himself from the charge at a time when the hearing had already ended and the court was about to announce the verdict.

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

The couple had married in 2018, the year Khan won the election and became prime minister. Bushra was reportedly his spiritual guide, but the two developed affection for each other during their meetings. She divorced her husband, whom she was married to for 28 years and had five children with.

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

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the syndicated news feed. LatestLY team may not have modified or edited the content.)