Islamabad: Former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife were cleared by a Pakistani court on Saturday in the case involving an un-Islamic marriage; however, their chances of being released from custody were short-lived as they were taken into custody in another case involving alleged corruption.
Khan, 71, and Bushra Bibi, 49, submitted appeals against their conviction in the Iddat case, which was approved by an Islamabad district and sessions court on Saturday. This resolved the last existing legal matter that had the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) party imprisoned since August of last year.
However, barely an hour after his acquittal in the un-Islamic marriage case, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested them in a new Toshakhana corruption case, the Dawn newspaper reported.
NAB Deputy Director Mohsin Haroon confirmed that Imran and Bushra Bibi were arrested in a fresh Toshakhana case.
A team of the anti-corruption watchdog headed by Haroon arrested the couple in the Adiala Jail in the new case related to alleged "misuse of power for acquiring Toshakhana gifts," Geo News reported.
The Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.
The Toshakhana case over the sale of state gifts received by the former cricketer-turned-politician became a major issue in national politics after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified Khan for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”.
There were also reports that an anti-terrorism court in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, approved the request of the authorities to arrest Khan in three cases linked to the unprecedented May 9 riots following his arrest in an alleged corruption case.
The PTI called his latest arrest a “gimmick to keep the illegal imprisonment prolonged”.
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.
In Islam, a woman cannot remarry before completing four months after divorce or the death of her husband.
Khan and Bushra were sentenced to seven years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 500,000 each, in February after a trial court found their marriage to be fraudulent.
The couple 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.
The judge announced the judgment in the afternoon after reserving the verdict earlier in the day, acquitting Khan and Bushra.
“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.
In the 28-page verdict, while referring to Maneka's lawyer's argument that his client was deprived of the right of Ruju — time period to normalise the relationship within the duration of iddat after divorce — the court highlighted that Maneka "remained passive for about six years" and due to that his right Ruju was in fact already expired.
Stressing Maneka's failure to prove his case against both Khan and Bushra, the court said: "They [Khan and Bushra] are directed to be released forthwith if not required to be detained in any other case." "Both the petitions seeking the formation of a medical board and consultations with the religious scholars are hereby rejected," the verdict stated.
But it was not clear if Khan and Bushra would be released. However, the un-Islamic marriage case was the only case for which Khan was in jail after the Toshakhana corruption case sentence was suspended and acquittal in the cipher case.
Khan has been behind bars since August last year after he was sentenced in the Toshakhana corruption case and subsequently sentenced in other cases ahead of the February 8 elections.
Khan and Bibi married in 2018, the year Khan went on to win elections and become prime minister.
Bibi was his spiritual guide but the two developed affection for each other during their meetings. She got divorced from her husband of 28 years with whom she had five children.
She is the third wife of Khan, a former cricketing hero, who during his heydays of sporting career had a playboy reputation.
PTI chief Gohar Khan welcomed the verdict and said it was a victory for the independent judiciary. “All these cases were fake and he will also get justice in all other cases,” he said, demanding that Imran Khan should be freed as it was the last case in which he was convicted.
The judgment in the un-Islamic case comes a day after Khan's embattled party won a huge legal battle when the Supreme Court declared it eligible for the reserved seats in Parliament and in the provincial assemblies following the controversy-ridden general election.
The apex court on Friday ruled that PTI was eligible for more than 20 seats reserved for women and minorities in Parliament.
Meanwhile, Khan's party said in a statement that he has been arrested in three more cases.
“Mr Khan has been arrested in three more cases,” the PTI said, adding: “Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore approved the request to arrest Imran Khan in the May 9 case, and decided to interrogate him in three May 9 cases in prison.” The party called the latest arrest of Khan a gimmick.
“Yet another gimmick to keep the illegal imprisonment prolonged, while ATC Islamabad, Faisalabad etc has approved his bail in May 9 cases, ATC Lahore decides to bow to the power hub instead of serving the justice,” it said.
The party also said that it was imperative to mention that his charges in the May 9 cases are primarily based on assumptions and testimony by police officers who claimed to have been a part of meetings, where he allegedly planned inciting violence across the county following his arrest in an alleged corruption case.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party-led government has already spoken its mind about keeping Khan in jail for its five-year term till 2029 for “economic stability”.
"People come to us and tell us if Pakistan has to progress then Imran Khan will have to be kept in jail for five years,” the Dawn newspaper quoted Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal as saying last month.
With PTI inputs