Islamabad: The woes of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi seem not taking a break as a Pakistani high court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on a petition seeking the dismissal of a case challenging the 'un-Islamic' marriage of the couple. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard the case filed by Bibi's ex-husband, Khawar Maneka, in November last year, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
It sought legal action against 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party supremo Khan for marrying his present wife while she was reportedly on iddat period. The iddat period (three months) is a waiting period that a Muslim woman must observe on account of the death of her husband or the dissolution of the marriage.
During the hearing on Wednesday, PTI party lawyer Salman Akram Raja said that the case was only aimed at humiliating the petitioners, highlighting that the complaint against Khan's marriage was filed five years and 11 months after the nikkah in November 2023.
The counsel for Maneka told the court that witnesses had testified in the trial court that Bibi was in another marriage with Imran at the time of their marriage ceremony, the report said.
Following arguments by the counsels of both parties, the court reserved a verdict on the case, it said. Earlier this month, a trial court indicted Khan and Bibi in the marriage case. Bibi, 49, hails from a family of landowners in Punjab. Her first marriage, which lasted about 30 years, was to Maneka, who is from a politically influential Punjab family.
Imran Khan and his wife sentenced to 14 years jail
Earlier in the day, an accountability court sentenced the former prime minister and his wife, Bibi, to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment in a corruption case. In the Toshakhana corruption case, the jailed PTI founder was accused of retaining expensive state gifts they received during his tenure as Pakistan's premier. The couple is also barred from holding any public office for ten years and slapped with a fine of Rs 787 million each.
On Tuesday, Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were sentenced to 10 years in prison by a special court for leaking sensitive state secrets.
Khan is already serving a three-year jail term after being convicted of corruption.
(With inputs from agency)
