Nikkah during Iddat case : Judge writes to IHC for transfer of case

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: District and Sessions Judge Shahrukh Arjumand on Wednesday remarked that Khawar Manika and his counsel always tried to disrupt hearing on appeals of PTI founder Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi and requested the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to transfer the case regarding their alleged unlawful marriage to another court.

The judge wrote a letter to the IHC registrar after Manika and his lawyers created ruckus in the courtroom when he was due to announce his reserved verdict on the appeals. However, the judge retired to his chamber without announcing the decision. Judge Arjumand wrote that it would not be appropriate to decide the appeals as Manika has mistrust of the court.

When day’s proceeding started, the judge asked about public prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi. His assistant told him that he had to appear before the Supreme Court. The judge remarked that Abbasi should have been in court in time. His assistant replied that he had to argue against the appeal but had to go to the Supreme Court.

The assistant sought time till 10:30am but Advocate Abbasi did not turn up. The judge asked the assistant to consult his senior and inform the court what he wanted. Manika’s counsel intervened and sought transfer of the case to another court. Judge Arjumand remarked that the request had already been turned down. The judge asked him to give a solid reason for transfer of the case. This was followed by ruckus in courtroom and judge Arjumand retired to his chamber without announcing the verdict.

An unpleasant situation developed outside a court in Islamabad on Wednesday when prior to pronouncement of the decision in the illegal nikah case against former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, PTI lawyers and party workers attacked Khawar Maneka, the petitioner in the case.

PTI female workers threw bottles at Maneka and even had a scuffle with him, while PTI lawyers slapped him inside the courtroom. As the Islamabad district and sessions court did not announce its already reserved verdict in the Iddat case against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, the complainant, Khawar Maneka – the former husband of Bushra Bibi – was assaulted outside the court.

Judge Shahrukh Arjumand went back to his chamber without announcing the verdict after Maneka expressed distrust in the judge. As the judge left the courtroom, the PTI lawyers hurled bottles at Khawar Maneka over using abusing language against the party founder and his wife.

The court had reserved its verdict last week on appeals filed by the PTI founder and his wife against their conviction in the Iddat case, which was the third and last in a series of verdicts announced just a few days before the general elections. A video clip on TV channels showed Maneka, dressed in a white shalwar-kameez, walking outside court as men, who appeared to be lawyers, thrashed him.