PTI founder, Bushra Bibi sent on physical remand in Toshakhana case

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sent on six-day physical remand in a new Toshakhana case, ARY News reported.

As per details, the accountability court judge Muhammad Ali Warraich announced the reserved verdict on pleas seeking physical remand of the former PM Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.

The court also ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to conduct investigation from the incarcerated PTI founder and his wife.

Earlier today, the Ministry of Law and Justice issued a notification approving a jail trial against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in new Toshakhana case.

The notification was issued after the approval of federal government.

According to the notification issued under Section 16-B of the NAB Ordinance 1999, the trial will be held in jail due to security concerns.

Yesterday, Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were arrested in a fresh National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference related to Toshakhana, hours after their acquittal in the Iddat case.

READ: PTI founder, Bushra Bibi ‘arrested’ in new Toshakhana case

The NAB team headed by Deputy Director Mohsin Haroon arrested Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi from the Adiala Jail, the sources privy to the development added. The NAB team also recorded the initial statements from the PTI founder and his wife.

Meanwhile, the NAB team re-arrested Bushra Bibi shortly after her release from the Adiala Jail.

The PTI founder’s wife was released from jail since it was mandatory after the issuance of the release order. After officially arresting Bushra Bibi, the NAB team left the Adiala Jail.

The development came after the Islamabad district and sessions court accepted the appeals filed by former prime minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi against their conviction in the Iddat case.

The couple was sentenced to seven years in prison and awarded a fine of Rs500,000 each, in February earlier this year after a trial court found their nikah to be fraudulent.

The verdict clears the last existing legal hurdle keeping the deposed prime minister in jail. His sentences in the two Toshakhana cases were suspended while he was acquitted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the cipher case.

Imran Khan – Bushra Bibi marriage

The former prime minister married Bushra Bibi in February 2018 in Lahore.

The ceremony was attended by only close relatives, including the bride’s mother, and friends. PTI founder’s sisters, however, were not in attendance.

Mufti Saeed had performed the nikah in the presence of former Pakitan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Awn Chaudhary and former SAPM Zulfi Bukhari who appeared as witnesses.

Last year, Khawar Maneka — Bibi’s former husband, who had approached the court — had claimed that the marriage was illegal and against the laws of Sharia.

Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were originally accused of marrying within the three-month “iddat period” that follows a divorce. Additionally, Maneka has accused them of fornication.