Court Calls PTI Leader Imran Khan to Appear Regarding ‘Controversial Marriage’ Case

Imran Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has received a summons from a district and sessions court in Islamabad. He is required to appear in court on September 25 in connection with a case concerning his third wife, Bushra Bibi, and what has been termed an “unIslamic nikah.”

The civil judge, Qudratullah, has instructed court personnel to issue the summons and deliver it to the Attock jail superintendent for Imran Khan’s court appearance.

The former prime minister faced arrest at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore on August 5, following his conviction in the Toshakhana case. He was accused of misusing his premiership from 2018 to 2022 by engaging in the buying and selling of gifts held in state possession, received during foreign visits and valued at over Rs140 million ($635,000).

Subsequently, he was transferred to Attock jail.

Although the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had overturned a lower court’s ruling for his imprisonment, he remained incarcerated due to his involvement in the cipher case.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officially arrested the former premier, who had been removed from power through a parliamentary vote in April the previous year. He, along with Shah Mahmood Qureshi, was booked under the Official Secrets Act in connection with the cipher case. Qureshi was apprehended from his residence in Islamabad on August 19, while Khan was arrested in the cipher case while serving his sentence in Attock jail.

Imran-Bushra marriage case

In May of this year, an Islamabad district and sessions court dismissed a plea challenging the validity of Imran Khan’s marriage to Bushra Bibi.

The court deemed the application “inadmissible” and outside its jurisdiction. However, in July, another Islamabad court overturned the civil court’s decision.

At that time, Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Islamabad, Muhammad Azam Khan, referred the case back to a civil judge.

The petitioner, Muhammad Hanif, had asserted that despite her Iddat period not concluding, Bushra Bibi, who had been divorced by her former husband in November 2017, married Imran Khan on January 1, 2018. This act was alleged to be against Sharia and Muslim norms.

The complainant presented statements from Mufti Muhammad Saeed, who officiated the marriage between Imran and Bushra, and Awn Chaudhry, a close friend of Imran who served as one of the witnesses at the wedding.

Mufti Saeed, who conducted the Nikah ceremony, disclosed that Imran Khan married Bushra Bibi during her iddat period, despite being aware of the circumstances.

In a statement to the lower court, Saeed mentioned that he had conducted Khan’s Nikah with Bushra Bibi on January 1, 2018, based on the assurance of a woman who claimed to be the former first lady’s sister.

Saeed further explained that Khan approached him again in February 2018, requesting a re-solmennization of his Nikah with Bushra Bibi, citing the first ceremony as being against Shariah. He stated that during the initial Nikah, Bushra Bibi’s Iddat had not yet ended.

According to Saeed, Khan indicated that Bushra Bibi’s divorce had occurred in November 2017, and there was a belief that if he married her, he would become the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Mufti Saeed concluded that the first Nikah was deemed illegal as it had been conducted based on the aforementioned “prediction.”

Marriage

In February 2018, the PTI announced Imran Khan’s marriage to Bushra Riaz Watoo, now known as Bushra Bibi, a respected faith healer. The wedding took place in Lahore, and although Khan’s sisters were absent, the bride’s mother and friends attended the intimate ceremony.

Before marrying Bushra Bibi, Imran Khan had two prior marriages. His first marriage, in 1995, was to Jemima Goldsmith, the daughter of a British billionaire, but it ended in 2004. He has two children, Suleman and Qasim, from his first wife, both of whom reside with their mother. His second marriage, to Reham Khan, occurred in January 2015 but dissolved within a short span of 10 months.