ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday granted the request of District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand for the transfer of the iddat case concerning the marriage of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi.
The case has been transferred to the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majuka, who will now preside over the proceedings.
The IHC decision follows days after the judge penned a letter to the IHC registrar, citing concerns raised by Khawar Maneka, Bushra’s former husband and petitioner, stating that it would be inappropriate for him to announce the verdict in the mentioned case.
He requested the registrar to transfer Bushra and Khan’s appeals against conviction to another court.
The judge, in his letter, also complained of repeated disruptions by Maneka and his lawyers during the hearing.
Judge Arjumand had written the letter after Maneka himself expressed his lack of confidence in the judge.
During the hearing of the case conducted on May 29, the former first last’s ex-husband told the judge: “I don’t want you deciding this case.”
“What is the reason for this?” the judge asked while lamenting repeated expressions of no-confidence.
“Tell me if there’s any concrete reason for this […] some judge will decide the case eventually,” Judge Arujmand said while highlighting that the court has already dismissed a no-confidence motion filed by Maneka wherein he had expressed no confidence in the judge and requested that the case be transferred to another court.
The same day, Maneka was also beaten by PTI lawyer in the premises of the court as he appeared for the hearing of the case.
During the hearing of appeals filed by Bushra and Khan against conviction in the iddat case, Judge Arjumand went into his chamber without announcing the verdict.
Following the development, PTI lawyers hurled bottles in the courtroom which prompted Maneka’s lawyers to escort him out. However, while being escorted out, a PTI lawyer then attacked Maneka within the court premises after which he fell to the ground.
The court, on May 23, had reserved the verdict on the appeals which was to be announced that day.
Maneka had, in January, moved the court challenging Khan and Bushra Bibi’s marriage and terming their nikah as fraudulent, stressing that the marriage was solemnised during her iddat (the time a woman goes into isolation after a divorce or her husband’s death).
The trial court then handed down a seven-year sentence to the couple in February and imposed a fine of Rs500,000 each on the duo.
In its comprehensive 51-page verdict, the court upheld that the evidence establishes a pre-existing relationship between both accused parties, Khan and Bushra, prior to the “fraudulent” nikah ceremony of 2018.
