A judicial magistrate on Wednesday dismissed the first information report (FIR) registered against the son-in-law of deposed premier Nawaz Sharif and PML-N leader Captain (retd) Safdar Awan for violating the sanctity of Mazar-e-Quaid and chanting slogans when he visited Quaid's mausoleum with Maryam Nawaz in October to attend a rally by Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

The FIR was registered against Safdar on October 18, 2020, on the complaint of PTI workers in Karachi at the Brigade Police Station in Karachi. The case was registered under the Quaid-i-Azam’s Mazar (Protection and Maintenance) Ordinance of 1971, which explicitly forbids political activities within the premises of the mausoleum.

On October 19 Sindh Police arrested Safdar from his hotel room early in the morning causing a political uproar. He was granted post-arrest bail the same day.

The investigating officer (IO) submitted an amended charge sheet before the judicial magistrate on November 9 and recommended the court to declare the case as “B class”.

The judicial magistrate on Wednesday (today) rejected the police's recommendation to categorize the FIR as “B class” and instead categorized it as “C class”.

Safdar's arrest caused a political uproar which resulted in a protest by high-ranking Sindh police officials including Inspector General (IG) Mushtaq Mahar, Additional Inspector General (AIG) Karachi, AIG Special Branch Imran Yaqoob, and several Deputy Inspector Generals (DIG) of police. Sindh police officers submitted requests for leave after they were allegedly pressurized to register a case against Capt(retd) Safdar.

Sindh authorities accused the regional rangers officials of pressurizing the police. PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called a press conference on the same day and said that 'Sindh police officials are demoralized and humiliated because they were pressurized into arrested Safdar. He demanded answers related to the arrest of Safdar.

This aftermath was addressed by the Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, who took notice of the events surrounding the arrest of PML-N leader Capt(retd) Mohammad Safdar Awan and ordered an "immediate inquiry".