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A trial court has handed seven-year sentences each to former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the "un-Islamic nikah" case at the Adiala jail on Saturday, Pakistan-based Geo News reported.
The court has also asked Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi to pay a fine of Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 500,000 each. The couple were present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced, according to Geo News report. Senior civil judge Qudratullah announced the verdict today. The decision was announced a day after the hearing of the case was conducted inside the jail premises for 14 hours. The court had reserved its decision after the arguments were completed on Friday. The judge pronounced the court's verdict in a case related to the plea registered by Bushra Bibi's former husband, Khawar Maneka against what he refers to as an un-Islamic and illegal nikah with Imran Khan. So far, cross-examination of the statements given by the four witnesses in the case has been completed, Geo News reported. The statements of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi under Section 342 have been recorded. During the court's hearing on Friday, the complainant's lawyer Raja Rizwan Abbasi and Khan's lawyer Salman Akram Raja and Bushra Bibi's counsel Usman Gul also gave their final arguments. In his petition, Khawar Maneka had called Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi's nikkah "fraudulent" and stressed that the marriage was solemnised during her iddat after her divorce from him. The petition filed by Maneka reads, "That above said nikah and the marriage ceremony was neither legal nor Islamic as it was solemnised without observing iddah period," according to the Geo News report. Khawar Maneka accused Imran Khan of ruining his entire life. In the petition, he mentioned that PTI founder "stigmatised the complainant and his family just to achieve his unethical and immoral objects through intrusion in the complainant's peaceful marital life." He requested the court to summon Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi and punish them in accordance with the law. "In light of the above, it is humbly prayed that respondents No.1 [Imran Khan] and 2 [Bushra Bibi] be summoned and punished strictly in accordance with law in the interest of justice," Maneka requested the court. (ANI)
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