In a significant turn of events, the judicial magistrate delivered a major reprieve to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi by dismissing the alleged ‘un-Islamic wedding’ case on Friday.
The petitioner, Muhammad Hanif, withdrew his initial plea, which accused the former prime minister of “unlawfully marrying” the former first lady during the latter’s iddat (period of restraint after divorce).
The development came during a hearing before Judge Qudratullah in Islamabad’s District and Sessions Court, where Hanif, accompanied by his counsel, cited “technical grounds” for withdrawing his primary plea against the couple.
Expressing his intention to withdraw the plea before the next scheduled hearing on 25 November, Hanif’s application was promptly accepted by the judicial magistrate, resulting in the dismissal of the case.
It’s important to note that Imran Khan was facing allegations of entering into wedlock with his third wife during her iddat – an Islamic term referring to the specified waiting period for a woman before marrying someone else after the death of her spouse or divorce.
These accusations were also raised by Bushra Bibi’s ex-husband, Khawar Farid Maneka, in a recent interview with a private news channel. Maneka claimed that Imran Khan had ruined his 28-year-long marriage with Bushra under the guise of Piri-Muridi, a relationship between a spiritual guide and a follower.
Maneka’s revelations gave credence to allegations that Imran and Bushra’s marriage took place before the completion of Iddat. According to him, Bushra married Imran one-and-a-half months after their divorce in November 2017. Imran and Bushra officially tied the knot in January 2018, while she would have been observing Iddat. However, the pictures of their wedding were reportedly released on February 18, 2018, in an attempt to conceal the marriage from the public eye, according to a newspaper report from March 2018.
Maneka further claimed that Imran Khan would visit his house without his consent, expressing dissatisfaction with his then-wife’s interactions with the PTI chief. Recounting a specific incident, Maneka mentioned that he had asked Imran to leave his house with the help of domestic staff during one such visit.
