Former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to seven years in jail in the illegal nikkah case on Saturday, two days after they were handed a 14-year sentence in the case, known as Toshakhana.
In a judgement, both were slapped with a fine of Rs500,000 each. The court declared their nikkah illegal and against Sharia.
The decision was announced by Civil Judge Qudratullah at 3:50pm. The court was scheduled to announce the decision at 1pm.
Bibi’s ex-husband Khawar Maneka had filed a case against Khan and his wife on November 25 last year where he accused the two of marrying before the former first lady’s iddat.
In its detailed verdict, the court said that the record proves that Khan and Bushra, were in relation before the 2018 “fraudulent” nikah.
According to the court, the PTI founder and Bushra Bibi did not deny meeting during the Islamabad sit-in.
“In their statement, [accused] admitted to having contact, but denied any illicit relationship,” the court maintained.
The court order stated that the complainant Khawar Maneka told the court that he had tried to stop Bushra by force from meeting the former prime minister at his Bani Gala residence in Islamabad.
Maneka had alleged that the PTI founder and the former first lady used to have hours-long meetings during the sit-in.
The court termed the nikah, solemnised on January 1, 2018, as fraud reflecting dishonesty.
“[The] PTI founder and Bushra married illegally on January 1, 2018,” the verdict said, adding that the latter’s nikah was solemnised before the 90-day iddat period as she was divorced on November 14, 2017.
A trial court reserved its verdict in the illegal nikkah case against Imran Khan and Bushra Begum on Friday night.
Civil Judge Qudratullah reserved the verdict after a long hearing in Adiala Jail on Friday.
During the hearing, Khan and Bushra’s statements were recorded under section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The defence’s lawyers also completed the cross-examination of four witnesses in the case: Khawar Manka, Awn Chaudhry, Mufti Saeed and Muhammad Latif.
During the hearing, Bushra Begum maintained that the account of her divorce happening in November 2017 was completely false. She said that Maneka had divorced her in April 2017 after which she had completed her waiting period by August.
She added that she had moved to her mother’s house and had married Imran Khan in January of next year. She denied that a second nikkah had taken place.
Her statement added that she met with Khan in the presence of her family before January 01, 2018. She added an announcement of her marriage was official made in February 2018.
“It was not nikkah, but an event to hold prayers,” it said and described allegations related to “fraudulent marriage illegal.”
Read: Illegal nikkah case: Imran challenges Maneka to swear by the Quran
She added that Maneka was under custody till November 14, 2023, after which he filed a complaint that was based on “ill-intention”.
Aun Chaudhry, Khawar Maneka, Mufti Saeed, and servant Hanif were also cross-examined during the hearing.
One of the recent hearings in the case had turned tense when Khan and Maneka had a heated exchange.
Maneka reportedly accused Khan of destroying his house. One of Bushra’s lawyers tried to punch Maneka as well.
Khan has already been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the cypher case and 14 years in the Toshakhana case. Bushra was also sentenced to 14 years in prison in the second case.
