Notices issued to Imran, Bushra in illegal marriage case

ISLAMABAD: The case against the "illegal" marriage of former prime minister Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi was declared admissible by a court in district and sessions court in the federal capital Tuesday.

Announcing the verdict, reserved a day earlier, Civil Judge Qudratullah issued notices to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and his wife, summoning them on July 20.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Islamabad Muhammad Azam Khan had remanded the case to a civil judge last week and dismissed another civil court's verdict declaring a petition challenging the legality of the marriage inadmissible.

The petitioner, Muhammad Hanif, claimed that Bushra Bibi was divorced by her former husband in November 2017 and married Khan on January 1, 2018, despite the fact that her iddat period had not ended, "which is against the Sharia and Muslim norms."

The complainant submitted in the court the statements of Mufti Muhammad Saeed — who conducted the marriage between Imran and Bushra, and Awn Chaudhry — Imran's close friend — one of the witnesses at the wedding.

Saeed, who solemnised the couple's Nikah, had said that the PTI chief married Bushra Bibi during the latter's iddat (the time a woman goes into isolation after her husband dies or divorces her), despite knowing everything.

In his statement to a lower court, Saeed said he had solemnised Khan's Nikah with Bushra Bibi on January 1, 2018, over the assurance of a woman claiming to be the former first lady's sister.

"Then the former premier contacted me again on February 2018 and requested me to solemnise his Nikah with Bushra Bibi again as the first time it was against the Shariah," Saeed stated before the court.

He said that the first time when the Nikah was solemnised, Bushra Bibi's Iddat hadn't ended.

He quoted Khan as saying that Bushra Bibi had been divorced on November 2017 and that there was a "prediction" that the PTI chairman would become the prime minister of Pakistan if he married Bushra Bibi.

Mufti Saeed added that the first Nikah was illegal, which had been solemnised based on the "prediction".

Marriage

In February 2018, the PTI had announced that Khan married Bushra Riaz Watoo, better known now as Bushra Bibi, who is a respected faith healer. The ceremony was held in Lahore.

Although Khan's sisters were not in attendance, the bride's mother and friends attended the intimate ceremony.

Saeed — a member of PTI's core committee back then — performed the Nikah with former PTI leader Awn Chaudhary and Zulfi Bukhari as witnesses.

Before marrying the spiritual guide, Khan was married twice.

He first married Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of a British billionaire, in 1995, but it ended in 2004. He has two kids — Suleman and Qasim — from his first wife. Both of them live with their mother.

His second marriage was to Reham Khan in January 2015, which dissolved in a short span of 10 months.