ISLAMABAD, 3 FEB

A Pakistan court on Saturday sentenced jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to seven years imprisonment in the un-Islamic nikah' case, less than a week before the general elections.

This is 71-year-old Khan's fourth conviction since 2022 adding to the troubles of the beleaguered founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party ahead of the 8 February polls. Bibi's first husband, Khawar Maneka, had filed the case, alleging that she violated the Islamic practice of observing the mandatory pause or Iddat between two marriages.

Maneka also accused his ex-wife and Khan of being in an adulterous relationship before marriage, a crime punishable by death by stoning.

"The verdict was pronounced by Senior Civil Judge Qudratullah today, a day after the hearing of the case was conducted inside the Adiala Jail premises at Rawalpindi for 14 hours on Friday," Geo News said and added that Qudratullah also slapped fines of Rs 5,00,000 each on the couple.

Both Khan and Bushra were present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced. Earlier this week, Khan, 71, was sentenced to 10 years in the cipher case and 14 years in the Toshakhana case. Arrested on 5 August last year, when he was found guilty in the Toshakhana corruption case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Khan has since been imprisoned - first in the Attock Jail and later shifted to the Adiala Jail.

Following his conviction in what has come to be known as the Iddat case, Khan told court reporters that the case against him was created to "humiliate and disgrace" both him and his spouse, Bushra Bibi.

On Friday, the cross-examination of the four prosecution witnesses was completed, while Khan and Bibi, 49, submitted a joint statement, answering 13 questions. The court rejected the defence's request to produce additional witnesses. A plea of acquittal and jurisdictional pleas were also rejected.