Mazar-e-Quaid desecration case against Capt Safdar quashed

KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Wednesday dismissed the case of alleged desecration of Mazar-e-Quaid against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML N) leader Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif and other accused.

Judicial Magistrate (Karachi South) Wazir Hussain Memon heard the case against Safdar and others for allegedly desecrating Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s mausoleum, damaging property and hurling murder threats.

During the hearing, the court observed that there was no evidence against the accused and the presence of the plaintiff at the scene of the incident could not be proved. According to the First Information Report (FIR), Captain (retd) Safdar, Maryam Nawaz and a cohort of party supporters had allegedly violated the sanctity of Quaid’s mausoleum by chanting political slogans and intimidating people.

Safdar was arrested from his hotel room in the wee hours of October 19, causing a political uproar. He, however, was granted post arrest bail the same day. On November 9, the investigating officer (IO) submitted an amended charge-sheet before the judicial magistrate. The IO and the special public prosecutor then recommended the court to declare the case as B class. On Wednesday, the judicial magistrate rejected the police’s recommendation to categorise the FIR as B class and quashed it as C class. The case was filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) worker Waqas Ahmed Khan.