According to the court order, “no incriminating material is available on record which connects the accused persons with the commission of alleged offences.” The magistrate also rejected police’s request for a 10-day remand, discharging all the accused.
The order further noted that no private witnesses were associated with the raid, no statements were recorded, and no official permission for conducting a raid at a private location was attached.
“Prima facie, it seems that the accused persons were included in the case on the basis of forged and concocted facts,” the order stated.
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Lawyer Haider Butt, representing the accused, confirmed that all were released and the case was dismissed.
The incident originated after videos of the alleged gathering went viral on social media. According to the FIR, the Punjab government ordered arrests following footage dated August 1, purportedly involving 50–60 individuals, including transgender persons. The FIR accused participants under sections related to obscenity in the Pakistan Penal Code and the Sound System Act.
Fashion designer Maria B had initially shared the videos online, demanding strict action against what she termed “transgender activists” and calling the gathering “against the moral values of the country.”
Responding to these developments, Islamabad-based transgender rights activist Nayyab Ali said the individuals in the viral clips were “not trans activists” and had “nothing to do with our movement.” In a post on X, Ali alleged, “If it’s fahashi (vulgarity), then who spread it to millions? Maria B did. That’s a crime itself.”
Maria B posted a video of some random kids doing some random stupidity… and suddenly labeled them as “transgender activists, satanic, immoral.” 🤦
— Nayyab Ali - نایاب علی (@nayyabalipk) August 17, 2025
Let’s fact check 👇
1- No one saw this video until @RealMariaButt herself put it out. Someone sent it privately to her, and she… pic.twitter.com/Zn7Gk0CrzC
Meanwhile, DIG Lahore Operations Faisal Kamran defended the arrests, calling the alleged event “a serious legal offence,” and added that the screening of the banned film Joyland, which explores transgender themes, was also halted in Lahore.
Human rights advocates have raised concerns over the misuse of morality laws, warning that their vague wording often leads to arbitrary enforcement and disproportionately impacts marginalized communities, particularly transgender persons.
