Sessions court in Gujranwala on Friday granted an interim bail to Retired Captain Muhammad Safdar Awan in a sedition case.

The son-in-law of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif appeared before the Additional Sessions judge Arshad Mahmood, who approved his bail plea over surety bonds worth Rs50,000.

A first information report (FIR) was registered against the husband of PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz and a PML-N MPA, Imran Khalid Butt, at a police station in Gujranwala’s Satellite Town.

As per the FIR, they had threatened to topple the government through protests and allegedly provoked people against the state and its institutions.

Earlier, police had summoned Muhammad Safdar and other 25 PMLN workers in the case. They didn’t appear in the police station in Gujranwala due to a fear of arrest.

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.

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.