Since the beginning of the year, former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s time is mainly consumed by attending court hearings.

He is implicated in dozens of cases from corruption, to rioting, to having an undeclared daughter and even the murder of one of his own party workers. But one case has come back again after it was seemingly buried.

Imran Khan is alleged to have married his wife, Bushra Begum, illegally or outisde the confines of sharia.

One of the reasons the case was orignally disposed off was because the nikkah took place in Lahore, but the case had been filed in Islamabad. But Islamabad, where Imran Khan owns a sprawling house, has become a factor in the case again causing it to be opened.

The case is a private complaint filed by a citizen named Muhammad Haneef against Imran Khan. It alleges that not only did Imran Khan illegally marry Bushra Begum, but that he did it it with full knowledge of all its implications.

The case says the Bushra Begum finalised a divorce with her husband in November 2017. Her iddat duration of three months was supposed to end at the end of January 2018, after which she could legally enter into a marriage again.

However, the case alleges that Bushra Begum had made a ‘prophecy’ that good things could come for both herself and Imran Khan if they started living together from the first day of 2018.

The case also says that Imran and Bushra solemnised their nikkah on January 1, 2018. It also claims that she herself told Mufti Muhammad Saeed in the presence of Aun Chaudhry, that her iddat had not been completed.

The petitioner has alleged that not only was the nikkah officiated at the beginning of the year, the couple also lived together as spouses in Imran Khan’s Bani Gala residence.

In February, the petition claims, another nikkah ceremony was organised in Lahore when Bushra Begum’s iddat was officially completed. The second nikkah was also officiated by Mufti Saeed, who has now appeared as a witness in the case.

By mentioning the fact that the couple lived together in Bani Gala after their first nikkah, the petitioner has now argued that the case can be heard in Islamabad. With the session court declaring the case to be maintainable, the case is once again reopened.