In the Imran-Bushra nikah case, the IHC stops the trial court from calling witnesses

Bushra’s ex-husband Khawar Maneka receives a notice from the Islamabad High Court regarding Imran Khan’s wife.

ISLAMABAD: The trial court in the case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi for solemnizing nikah in an unIslamic manner was prevented from recording witness testimony by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq gave the orders during the case’s hearing today.

Imran, who was ousted from the prime ministership in April 2022, and his spouse have refuted every accusation made in the November 2023 complaint filed by Bushra’s ex-husband, Khawar Maneka.

Barrister Salman Akram Raja, the attorney representing Imran and Bushra, informed the court at the beginning of the session that the district judiciary as a whole was in Adiala Jail to take witness testimony.

The chief justice of the IHC then gave him instructions to submit the case facts so that he might prevent the trial court from recording the witness statements.

Raja stated that the nikah happened 48 days following the divorce, even if the statements made by the witnesses were believed.

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The length of iddat—the time between one marriage and the next—was a question the court asked. Normally, the barrister would have responded, “90 days,” but Mufti Taqi Usmani, a renowned scholar and authority on Islamic law, had provided an explanation inside that time frame.

He added that there was an iddat Supreme Court ruling available.

Judge Farooq stated that if the SC decision was unavailable, what was he arguing against in the petition? In response, the attorney said he had contested the summons that were sent to Bushra and Imran in the case.

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According to the law, if nikah was solemnized during iddat, it was later regularized, stated the top justice. Even though the nikah was not official, he questioned what the crime was.

The case was postponed until January 25 by the high court, who also served Khawar Maneka, Bushra’s ex-husband, with a notice.

Imran and his spouse were charged by a local court on January 15th for violating Islamic norms by solemnizing their marriage.

The accusations had been read aloud in the courtroom at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail by Senior Civil Judge Qudratullah.