Iddat Nihah case: Manika’s appeal against Imran, Bushra’s acquittal scheduled for hearing

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has scheduled for hearing Khawar Manika’s appeal against the acquittal of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the Iddat Nikah case.

IHC’s newly appointed judge Justice Azam Khan will hear the case on Monday (tomorrow).

On July 13, 2024, an additional sessions judge in Islamabad acquitted Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi in the Iddat Nikkah case and ordered their immediate release.

Khawar Manika, the former husband of Bushra Bibi, had challenged the additional sessions judge’s decision and requested to nullify it.

On February 7, 2014, Civil Judge Qudratullah handed down Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi seven years of imprisonment in the Iddat Nikah case after hearing the case in Adiala jail.

During the hearing that led to their acquittal, senior lawyers Salman Akram Raja and Usman Riaz Gul represented Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi respectively. They cross-examined four key prosecution witnesses, Khawar Manika, Aon Chaudhry, Nikah officiant Mufti Saeed and employee Latif.

Born as Bushra Riaz Watto, she changed her name to Bushra Khan after her marriage in 2018. She had been growing into a leadership role in the PTI since he was jailed in August 2023.

Khan and her followers commonly refer to her as Bushra Bibi or Bushra Begum, titles that denote respect in the Urdu language.

Bushra, who is in her late 40s, drew global headlines when she entered Islamabad last year with thousands of PTI supporters who breached heavy security barricades. Not far from the country’s parliament, she addressed the crowd from the roof of a truck near D-Chowk, urging them to stay until Khan was freed.

Also read: Imran Khan gets 14 years, Bushra Bibi 7 years in Al-Qadir trust case

“You all need to promise that until Khan is amongst us, you won’t leave,” Bushra said in her first ever speech at a public rally.

Underlining her increasingly active role in PTI, she insisted on holding the protest at the sensitive, central location, despite Khan’s instructions to gather on the capital’s outskirts, according to party officials.

The protesters eventually dispersed after a massive midnight raid by security forces following days of deadly clashes. Party officials said Bushra escaped to the nearby PTI stronghold of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where she largely remained until Friday’s court appearance.

MARRIAGE WITH IMRAN KHAN

Bushra Bibi married Imran Khan in a secret ceremony. It was his third marriage and her second, and at the start she generally kept a low profile.

The couple was convicted in 2024 of not completing the waiting period mandated by Islam after her previous marriage, although a court overturned the conviction a few months later.

She was released from prison in October after nine months for a case involving the illegal sale of state gifts.