ISLAMABAD – A district and sessions court in Islamabad has acquitted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in Iddat case.
Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka announced the verdict reserved earlier, holding that Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi should be released if they were not required in any other case.
The court also issued ‘robkar’ for release of both Imran Khan and his wife.
In February this year, the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi were sentenced to seven years in prison and fined Rs500,000 each by a trial court after their nikah was declared fraudulent in response to a petition filed by Khawar Maneka, Bushra’s former husband.
The couple subsequently contested their conviction and petitioned the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for various forms of relief.
The outcome is particularly significant for Khan, who has been incarcerated since August last year following his conviction in the Toshakhana case and subsequent legal proceedings ahead of the February 8 elections.
Imran Khan, however, till writing of these lines, is behind the bars despite that several judgements came in his favour in other cases including £190 million reference and Toshakhana case. He had also secured bail in several cases.
Last month, the IHC instructed the district court to decide on the pleas seeking suspension of the sentence within 10 days and the appeals challenging the conviction within one month, prompting Judge Majoka to reject Khan and Bushra’s requests to suspend their sentence in the iddat case on June 27.
In a 10-page order, the court cited insufficient grounds to justify the suspension of their sentence under section 426 Cr.PC and dismissed both petitions.
The PTI strongly criticized the verdict as “utterly absurd,” with party leaders staging a protest outside Adiala Jail, where security measures were heightened in anticipation of the former prime minister’s presence.
“We will promptly appeal this decision in the high court,” declared the opposition leader in the National Assembly, decrying the politicization and exploitation of private matters between spouses.
