Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi sentenced to 7 years for `illegal' marriage

Pakistan's former Prime Minister and Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to 7 years in prison for illegal marriage. A fine has also been imposed.

They were punished for violating the marriage law. Earlier, both were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in the Toshakhana case.

A Pakistani court gave this verdict on Saturday (February 3), just five days before the national elections. According to the verdict, Imran Khan's marriage with Bushra Bibi in 2018 violated the law.

This is the third verdict against Imran Khan by the court this week. The 71-year-old PTI leader is now in jail. As a result, he cannot participate in the upcoming elections.

He and his trusted aide, former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, were sentenced to 10 years in prison in a case of publishing secret state documents ahead of the elections.

Judge Abul Hasnat Zulkarnain of the special court formed under the Privacy Act announced the verdict in the presence of two leaders in Adiala prison on January 30.

The next day on January 31, Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges of selling state gifts (Toshakhana case). Islamabad Accountability Court (Accountability Court) judge Muhammad Bashir gave this verdict.

After three days, the judgment of the marriage case was given. In the verdict, Imran and his wife Bushra were sentenced to seven years in prison and fined Rs 5 lakh.

Imran Khan married Bushra Bibi in January 2018. This is his third marriage. Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi got married in a very secretive family ceremony just seven months before the big election victory and becoming the Prime Minister.

After that, this couple has been living together for the last six years. After so long, Khawar Farid Maneka, former husband of Bushra Bibi, filed a case against Imran Khan and Bushra before the election. He alleges that Bushra Bibi did not observe the Iddat and committed 'adultery' by marrying without observing the ‘Iddat’.

According to Islamic Sharia law, a wife must remain in one house for a specified period of time after divorce or her husband's death, or she cannot move elsewhere or marry elsewhere; That period is called 'Iddat'.

However, both of them have denied this allegation. However, the case continued and hearings began last month. On January 16, the judge framed the charges in this case in the presence of Imran Khan, who was imprisoned under special arrangements in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail. But Bushra Bibi was not present due to health reasons.