An Islamabad District and Sessions Court on Saturday dismissed a case seeking legal action against former Prime Minister Imran Khan for marrying his wife, Bushra Bibi, while she was reportedly on Iddat.

Iddat is a 130-day wai­ting period, or a period of abstinence, after the dissolution of a woman’s marriage through di­­vorce, death, or any other form of separation from her husband, during which the woman remains unmarried.

A copy of the verdict, available with Dawn.com, stated that the Islamabad lower court “lacks jurisdiction to take cognisance over the matter” and “hence the instant complaint is not proceed-able within the territorial jurisdiction of this court being coram non-judice”.

The court order highlighted that the nikah was allegedly solemnised in Lahore and “therefore the offence, if any was committed would have been within the territorial jurisdiction […] at Lahore”.

Dawn.com correspondents in Lahore and Quetta have also confirmed that no similar case has been registered against the ex-premier and his wife in Punjab and Balochistan so far.

Hearing

The case was heard by Senior Civil Judge Nasrumminallah.

At the outset of the hearing today, petitioner Mohammad Haneef’s lawyer Raja Rizwan Abbasi contended that marrying during the Iddat was unlawful.

“It was said that if the marriage is solemnised on the first day of 2018, he will become the prime minister,” he said. “Some court judgements call it illegal while others term it Zina (adultery)”.

Abbasi maintained that Bushra Bibi was in Iddat during January 2018 as her divorce took place in November 2017.

“If the marriage was legal why was another nikah performed?” the lawyer asked. In reply to this, Judge Nasrumminallah asked Advocate Abbasi to explain how the case fell under his court’s jurisdiction if Imran’s nikah took place in Lahore.

“If bullets are shot at in one place and the death takes place somewhere else, the trial can be conducted in both places,” the lawyer replied. “The fraud began in Bani Gala and the nikah took place in Lahore.”

He informed the court that Imran and his wife had to stay within the limits of Islamabad due to the “fraud wedding”.

“Even the prayer leader was taken from Islamabad to perform their nikah.” Advocate Abbasi added. “In February 2018, the nikah was recited again.”

He argued that the wedding ceremony was a fraud and the nikah was illegal. “According to the Sunni school of thought, nikah during Iddat is haram.”

“The nikah can only take place once the Iddat has ended,” Advocate Abbasi said.

“The period of Iddat exists for a chance that the woman can end her differences with her husband,” he told the court. “Divorce is halal but something that’s not appreciated.”

Advocate Abbasi said the PTI chairman wanted to be the prime minister and that is why he underwent the nikah.

“The period of Iddat for pregnant and non-pregnant women were different,” he added. “The matter of this nikah started from Islamabad that’s why the case falls under the jurisdiction of this court.”

Marriage

In Feb 2018, the PTI chief had married Bushra Maneka, a respected Pir [faith healer] in Pakpattan, in Lahore.

Party leader Inamul Haq had told DawnNewsTV that only close relatives, including the bride’s mother, and friends participated in the ceremony — Khan’s sisters, however, were not in attendance.

Mufti Saeed had performed the nikah in the presence of disgruntled PTI leader Awn Chaudhary and Zulfi Bukhari who appeared as witnesses.

The ceremony was a low-profile one as per the desire Imran, Haq had added. He expressed hope that Imran’s marriage would prove blessed not only for him and his wife but for the entire nation.

The PTI chief has been married twice before. His first marriage was with Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of a British billionaire in 1995. The couple divorced in 2004.

Khan’s second marriage to Reham Khan dissolved 10 months after a public ceremony had taken place in January 2015.