ISLAMABAD, Nov 24: In some relief to embattled former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, a court here on Friday dismissed a petition challenging his ‘un-Islamic’ marriage to his third wife Bushra Bibi, a media report said.
A local court in Islamabad dismissed the plea filed by the petitioner Muhammad Hanif after he withdrew his case against the jailed former prime minister, Geo News reported.
Hanif had moved the court seeking legal action against the 71-year-old chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party for marrying his present wife while she was reportedly on iddat period.
The iddat period (three months) is a waiting period that a Muslim woman must observe on account of the death of her husband or the dissolution of the marriage.
In his recent application submitted to the court, the petitioner said, “For the time being, the applicant wants to withdraw the above-said complaint due to technical reasons.”
“If permission to withdraw the complaint is not accorded, (the) applicant shall suffer irreparable loss,” the report said, citing the application.
Judicial Magistrate (East) Qudrat Ullah granted permission for the complaint’s withdrawal and wrapped up the case.
Hanif had claimed that Bushra Bibi was divorced by her former husband in November 2017 and married Khan on January 1, 2018, even though her Iddat period had not ended, “which is against the Sharia and Muslim norms,” the report said.
The complainant had submitted the statements of Mufti Saeed, the Pakistani cleric who solemnised the couple’s Islamic marriage in 2018.
Saeed had said that the ceremony was not conducted in accordance with Islamic Sharia law and that the wedding occurred during the iddat period of Bushra Bibi, Khan’s third spouse.
Bushra, 49, hails from a family of landowners in Punjab. Her first marriage, which lasted about 30 years, was to Khawar Farid Maneka, who is from a politically influential Punjab family.
Khan has been incarcerated in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since September 26 in more than 150 cases since he was ousted from power in April last year. (PTI)
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