Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan, Wife Acquitted in Illegal Marriage Case

New Delhi, India: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been acquitted in illegal marriage case on Saturday, July 13. The illegal marriage case was the only case keeping the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party founder behind bars.

On February 3 -- days before the general elections on February 8 -- an Islamabad court convicted the couple based on a complaint filed by Bushra Bibi’s ex-husband, Khawar Fareed Maneka, who alleged that they contracted marriage during the former first lady’s Iddat period.

What is the rule in Islam about marriage? In Islam, a woman can’t remarry before completing four months after divorce or the death of her husband.

What did Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi do? The two had challenged the sentence in a district and session court of the capital Islamabad where Additional District and Sessions judge (ADSJ) Afzal Majoka heard the case.

What did the judge say? The judge announced the judgment in the afternoon after reserving the verdict earlier in the day, acquitting Khan, 71 and Bushra, 49.

“If they are not wanted in any other case, then PTI founder Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi should be released [from jail] immediately,” the judge said after accepting their appeals.

But it was not clear if he would be released. Though it was the only case for which Khan was in jail after the Toshakhana corruption case sentence was suspended and acquittal in the cipher case.