In all probability it will happen on April 15, the date previously fixed.  The media got into a tizzy with Qazi Azmatullah Jaffri, said to be close to the Mirza family confirmed that the nikah or wedding would be performed after evening prayers here on Friday. Earlier, different views were being expressed on whether the nikah could be performed, considering that Shoaib’s passport is in police custody.

Hyderabad’s Muslim community has put in place several rules on marriages with foreigners to safeguard the girl’s interests especially after a horde of problems arose in their marriage with men mainly from West Asian countries.

No Qazi in Hdyerabad will perform a marriage with a foreigner without passport and a no objection certificate from his country. Malik’s passport was impounded by the Hyderabad police after his first wife Ayesha Siddiqui lodged a police complaint of harassment, cheating and criminal intimidation against Malik.

With a legal procedure being involved in the return of the passport, it is believed it can take anything between a week to 10 days before the passport would be returned by the local court.

The well-connected Mirza family is believed to be working overtime on the passport issue so the planned wedding for April 15 goes off without a hitch.

However, another opinion on the passport issue is that the nikah can be performed even with a copy of the passport just as Malik’s divorce from Ayesha is over. But the marriage certificate would be withheld until the passport is produced.