In a big relief for ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, a Pakistani court on Saturday overturned the conviction and seven-year prison sentence of the couple in an alleged 2018 unlawful marriage case.
This latest development has removed the last known hurdle in the way of Khan’s (71) release nearly a year after he was jailed, lawyers said.
One of the ex-PM’s lawyers, Naeem Panjutha stated the court declared the verdict in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. In its brief order, the court said if the couple is not wanted in any other case, they should be freed.
Bibi, Khan’s third wife and a spiritual healer, was earlier married to a man who claimed that they divorced in November 2017, less than three months before she married the cricketer-turned-politician. In 2018, the couple got married.
In November 2023, the case was filed by Bushra’s ex-husband Khawar Maneka against the couple. He alleged that they married without Bushra obeying the compulsory waiting period of iddat. He asked the court to announce the wedding null and void.
However, it was not clear how the Government of Pakistan would respond to the latest court order. There have been multiple cases against Imran Khan since 2022 when he was ousted from power through a vote of no-confidence in the Parliament.
The verdict seems to be a major political win for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party founder Khan.