Imran Khan, wife acquitted in un-Islamic marriage case by Pak court

Islamabad: Former prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were acquitted by a Pakistani court on Saturday in an un-Islamic marriage case, PTI reported.

The current case is the last one that keeps the former PM behind bars right now.

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 can't remarry before completing four months after divorce or the death of her husband.

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.

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. However, it was the only case for which Khan was in jail after the Toshakhana corruption case, the sentence was suspended and acquittal in the cypher case.

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