Retired Captain Safdar, the husband of PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz, and 25 other PML-N leaders decided not to appear in a sedition case filed against them due to a fear of arrest. Safdar and other party leaders were summoned by the police for the second time on Wednesday in the sedition case filed against them at Gujranwala’s Satellite Town police station. “There is a fear of arrest in case of appearance. The decision not to appear has been taken in consultation with the leadership,” said PML-N leader Irfan Muzaffar Cheema. The police had summoned top-tier PML-N leaders and party workers at 11am. Instead, a team of lawyers for party headed by Noor Muhammad Mirza arrived at the police station. The lawyers met the station house officer of the Satellite Town police station and the investigation officer in the case. The lawyers left the station after the SHO informed the lawyers that the PML-N leaders were asked to appear in person. They were also told that if the PML-N leaders do not appear then they will be considered absent on Wednesday as well. The police also said that the second notice was sent by post after the PML-N leaders did not appear a day earlier. They warned that “unilateral action” will be pursued against the PML-N leaders if they fail to appear in the case. On Sunday, it was reported that the Punjab Police had constituted a special team to arrest Captain (retired) Safdar and other PML-N leaders after they were booked in a sedition case and accused of using provocative and threatening words against state and administrative institutions. The complaint states that Safdar used these words during a meeting of the party leaders at PML-N MPA Imran Khalid Butt’s house. The development came a few days after PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz had announced that the party will hold a rally in Gujranwala on October 16.