Imran, Bushra to remain behind bars as arrest 'declared' in new NAB reference

After their acquittal in iddat case, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi have been "arrested in a new reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) related to Toshakhana gifts", Geo News reported citing sources.

The development came hours after a district and sessions court in Islamabad acquitted the former premier and his spouse in the iddat case — also known as the un-Islamic nikah case — which was the last hurdle in the couple's release from jail.

The court accepted the couple's pleas seeking annulment of their conviction in the iddat case. Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka announced short order reserved earlier in the day.

Khan and Bushra were sentenced to seven years in prison and awarded a fine of Rs500,000 each, in February earlier this year after a trial court found their nikah to be fraudulent as Khawar Maneka, Bushra's ex-husband, moved the court against the couple's marriage.

A team of the anti-corruption watchdog headed by Deputy Director Mohsin Haroon arrested the couple in the Adiala Jail in the new reference related to alleged "misuse of power for acquiring Toshakhana gifts," the sources added.

The NAB team rearrested Bushra Bibi after she was released from Adiala Jail’s Gate No 3 to fulfil the legal obligations, the sources said adding the former first lady will remain incarcerated at the Rawalpindi prison.

PTI lawyer Intazar Panjutha confirmed the development, saying that the ex-premier’s wife was rearrested soon after she came out of prison via its Colony Gate.

In another development, the sources revealed that Lahore police did not make any progress to nab the former prime minister after his interim bails were dismissed by the anti-terrorism court (ATC) earlier this week.

It emerged that Khan's arrest was not declared in the May 9, 2023, riots cases as per the Adiala Jail records.

A Lahore Police team also visited Adiala Jail to arrest the PTI founder, the sources added.

Another team of anti-graft body also visited the Rawalpindi jail under the supervision of NAB Assistant Director Naeem Ullah.

The sources further said that Bushra Bibi’s lawyers also submitted a pre-arrest bail plea in the court that heard £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) settlement case today, citing her expected arrest in the new NAB reference.

A NAB official confirmed to The News in January that the top graft body was working on another reference against the cricketer-cum-politician which is also related to the Toshakhana gifts retained by him after payment of a paltry amount.

It is noteworthy to mention here that an accountability court's judge had refused to extend Khan's physical remand in the case under question when the NAB filed a Toshakhana reference in December 2023.

While talking to journalists outside the Rawalpindi jail, the ex-premier’s lawyer Intazar Panjutha said that “conspiracy to break down the PTI founder has failed as he is now facing no more cases against him” which needed to keep him behind bars.

He added that the court issued mandamus (robkar) for Khan and Bushra’s release. He further said that both of them were not facing arrests in any other case as per Adiala Jail’s records till Saturday morning.

Panjutha said that his party leadership ordered workers not to gather at Adiala Jail in the current circumstances.

The couple had challenged their conviction in the iddat case and even moved the IHC seeking varying relief from the court.

The verdict of the un-Islamic nikah case holds significance for Khan, who has been behind bars since August last year after he was sentenced in the Toshakhana criminal case, and subsequently sentenced in other cases ahead of the February 8 elections.

Khan has already secured relief in £190 million reference, Toshakhana and the cipher cases.

Khan has also been granted bail in several May 9 cases registered in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Faisalabad. However, an ATC in Lahore earlier this week dismissed his pre-arrest bail in vandalism cases related to the violent protests last year.

Iddat case verdict

In the 28-page verdict, while referring to Maneka's lawyer's argument that his client was deprived of the right of Ruju — time period to normalise the relationship within the duration of iddat after divorce — the court highlighted that Maneka "remained passive for about six years" and due to that his right Ruju was in fact already expired.

Stressing Maneka's failure to prove his case against both Khan and Bushra, the court said: "They [Khan and Bushra] are directed to be released forthwith if not required to be detained in any other case."

"Both the petitions seeking the formation of a medical board and consultations with the religious scholars are hereby rejected," the verdict stated.

Last month, the Islamabad High Court, while hearing multiple pleas filed by the former first couple, had directed the district court to decide the pleas seeking the suspension of the sentence in 10 days and the pleas challenging the conviction in one month.

On June 27, Judge Majoka rejected Khan and Bushra's pleas seeking suspension of their sentence in the said case.

In the 10-page order, the court mentioned that there was no reason to suspend the sentence.

"...[there is] no ground for suspension of [the] sentence is available to both the petitioners. Accordingly, both the petitions under section 426 Cr.PC are dismissed," it said.

Overview of iddat case

The iddat case issue first came to light when a petitioner, Muhammad Hanif, had claimed that Bushra was divorced by her former husband in November 2017 and married Khan on January 1, 2018, despite the fact that her iddat period — the time a woman goes into isolation after her husband dies or divorces her — had not ended, "which is against the Sharia and Muslim norms."

A district and sessions court in Islamabad then rejected the plea. The court termed the petition “inadmissible” and said that it fell outside its jurisdiction, prior to which the petitioner withdrew his plea.

Later, Bushra’s ex-husband Maneka had filed a complaint against the "un-Islamic marriage" of Khan and Bushra in the court of Civil Judge Qudratullah on November 25, 2023, under the under Sections 34, 496, 496-B of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The couple were indicted in the iddat case on January 16, 2024. After a 14-hour hearing in the Adiala jail, the trial court reserved its verdict on February 2 and handed out seven years imprisonment each to Imran and Bushra on February 3.

In its 51-page detailed verdict, the court maintained that the record proves that both of the accused, Khan and Bushra, were in relation before the 2018 "fraudulent" nikah.

The couple then filed multiple pleas against their sentence and conviction in the said case.

District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand, who was initially hearing the case, had reserved the verdict on pleas seeking sentence suspension on May 23 and was due to be announced on May 29.

However, owing to Maneka's repeated expression of lack of confidence in him, Judge Arujmand wrote to the IHC to transfer Bushra and Khan's appeals against conviction to another court.

After IHC's approval for the transfer of case, Judge Majoka then took over the couple's pleas.