Islamabad, Pakistan

Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to seven years of imprisonment each by a Rawalpindi court in the "un-Islamic nikah" case on Saturday (Feb 3).

The case is related to their marriage which took place during Bushra Bibi's Iddat period. The verdict was announced by senior civil judge Qudratullah after the complaint was filed by Bushra’s former husband Khawar Fareed Maneka, who called their marriage “un-Islamic and illegal”, in a makeshift court located at the Adiala district jail.

The court gave the verdict in the same week when Khan was given 14 years of prison sentence in the Toshakhana case and 10 years in the cipher case.

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Maneka alleges Bushra, Imran's marriage 'fraudulent'

The cross-examinations of the statements submitted by the four witnesses of the case were completed and Khan and Bushra's statements were recorded under section 342.

Also read: Who is Bushra Bibi, the prayerful wife of ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan?

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A day before, the complainant's counsel Raja Rizwan Abbasi, along with Bushra Bibi's lawyer Usman Gul and Khan's lawyer Salman Akram Raja also gave their final arguments.

In his petition, Maneka called Bushra and Khan’s nikkah “fraudulent” and claimed that their marriage was solemnised during the latter's iddat, after her divorce from Maneka.

“That above said nikah and the marriage ceremony was neither legal nor Islamic as it was solemnised without observing iddah period,” stated the petition, as reported by Geo.tv.

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Maneka had also alleged that the former prime minister destroyed his entire life as the petition stated that the PTI top leader “stigmatised the complainant and his family just to achieve his unethical and immoral objects through intrusion in the complainant's peaceful marital life”.

Watch: Imran Khan and Elections in Pakistan | WION Inside South Asia

“In light of the above, it is humbly prayed that respondents No.1 [Imran Khan] and 2 [Bushra Bibi] be summoned and punished strictly in accordance with law in the interest of justice,” claimed Maneka in the court.

Bushra also faces a case filed by her former husband, Khawar Maneka, alleging fraudulent marriage and fornication.

Iddat case filed to ‘humiliate’ me and Bushra Bibi, claims Imran

After being convicted in the Iddat case, PTI founder Imran Khan, while speaking to the reporters, said that the case was filed to “humiliate and disgrace” both him and his wife Bushra Bibi.

“This marks the first instance in history where a case related to Iddat has been initiated,” Khan said.

He added that this was also the first time when someone was given a 14-year prison sentence in a Toshakhana case.

In Islam, iddat is a specific period that a woman must observe after either divorce or her husband's death and during which she is expected not to marry another man.

(With inputs from agencies)