ISLAMABAD: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi’s legal team on Friday urged a local court in the federal capital for an early hearing and judgment in a case in which they have been convicted of contracting unlawful marriage, one of their lawyers said.
The couple were sentenced to seven years in prison in February ahead of Pakistan’s national elections by a court that ruled that their 2018 marriage went against the law. Khan’s wife was accused of not completing the waiting period mandated by Islam, called “Iddat,” after divorcing her previous husband and marrying Khan.
The couple signed their marriage contract, or “Nikkah,” in January 2018 in a secret ceremony seven months before the former cricket superstar became prime minister for the first time. Bibi’s ex-husband, Khawar Maneka, to whom she was married for about 30 years, brought a criminal complaint against the couple, accusing them of undermining the country’s marriage laws.
Last week, an Islamabad district court judge failed to announce the judgment on the couple’s appeals after Maneka expressed no-confidence over proceedings of the case, and the judge requested the Islamabad High Court to transfer the matter to another court for fresh hearings.
“This is one of the bogus cases against Imran Khan and his wife, and we have appealed the court for an early hearing and judgment as the case has already been lingering for months now,” advocate Niazullah Niazi, one of Khan’s legal team members who appeared in the court, said.
Prior to that, a district court judge, Muhammad Afzal Majoka, took up the petition on Friday, but prosecutors failed to appear in the court, prompting the judge to point out that a notice had been issued to the complainant and the court would hear the case even in his absence.
Niazi told Arab News it was unprecedented for a district court judge to complete all the hearings and then request the high court for transfer the case on the last day, instead of announcing the verdict.
“This is a criminal appeal against the convictions, and the courts usually conclude them in two to three hearings,” be continued, adding the prosecution in the case was using different “tactics and excuses” to delay the judgment.
The court has adjourned the case until June 11 with fresh notices to the complainant to present their arguments on the next hearing.
Khan has been in prison since August last year and is facing multiple charges. His wife was also shifted to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail with him last month from their Bani Gala residence in Islamabad where she was kept for around three months after her conviction.
