The petition, filed by Barrister Salman Safdar, seeks to suspend the sentence and secure bail for Bushra Bibi.
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-June 8th, 2024) Bushra Bibi, wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, appealed to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to challenge her conviction in the Nikah case, in which both she and her husband were sentenced to seven years in prison and fined Rs500,000 each.
The petition, filed by Barrister Salman Safdar, seeks to suspend the sentence and secure bail for Bushra Bibi.
She claims political victimization and requests the court to provide immediate relief. Additionally, the petition asks for the suspension of the sentence to be considered.
Earlier, on June 3, the IHC reassigned the Nikah case of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi to another court, transferring it to the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka. This move followed a letter from Session Judge Shahrukh Arjumand to the Chief Justice of the IHC, in which Judge Arjumand requested the case transfer due to objections raised by Khawar Manika.
During the last hearing on May 29, Khawar Manika’s lawyer asked Judge Arjumand to transfer the case, stating that Manika did not want a verdict from him. Judge Arjumand then wrote to the High Court, citing Manika's lack of confidence in him and accusing the complainant’s lawyer of delaying the proceedings. He suggested the appeals be transferred to another court capable of hearing the case within a set timeframe.
Imran Khan married Bushra Bibi in February 2018 in a ceremony attended by close relatives and friends, though his sisters were not present. Mufti Saeed conducted the nikah, witnessed by former PTI leader Awn Chaudhary and former SAPM Zulfi Bukhari.
Last year, Bushra Bibi’s ex-husband, Khawar Maneka, contested the marriage's legality, claiming it violated Sharia laws as it occurred during the three-month "iddat period" following a divorce. He accused the couple of fornication. The court's reserved verdict, delivered by Judge Qudratullah, sentenced Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi to seven years in prison and imposed a Rs500,000 fine on each of them.
