Indictment hearing against Pakistani YouTuber ‘Ducky Bhai’ put off due to judge’s absence
Separately, Lahore court extends interim bail of YouTuber Rajab Butt until Feb. 16 in online gambling case
Laiba Zainab
Correspondent
Laiba Zainab is an award-winning journalist with nearly a decade of experience in digital media. She has received the DW & CEJ-IBA Data Journalism Award and the top digital media prize at the National Media Fellowship. At NUKTA, she covers underreported stories on health, crime, and social justice.
Proceedings to indict prominent Pakistani YouTuber Saad-ur-Rehman, better known as Ducky Bhai, and his wife Aroob Jatoi in a case alleging the promotion of illegal online gambling were postponed on Monday after the presiding judge was unavailable, court officials said.
The case was scheduled for hearing at the Lahore District Courts before Judicial Magistrate Naeem Watto, but court staff informed the accused that the magistrate was attending official training, forcing an adjournment.
Ducky Bhai, Jatoi and other accused appeared in court and marked their attendance before the matter was deferred.
The court adjourned further proceedings until Feb. 9.
Pakistan’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has registered a case against Ducky Bhai and three others, accusing them of promoting online gambling applications. Prosecutors have already submitted the charge sheet to the court, and copies were distributed to the accused during an earlier hearing.
Rehman, who has more than eight million subscribers on YouTube, is among Pakistan’s most high-profile digital content creators, known for family vlogs, gaming videos and frequent online controversies. His arrest in the gambling promotion case drew widespread attention across Pakistan’s social media landscape.
The case is not his first brush with the law. In 2023, Rehman and his wife were briefly detained after a firearm appeared in one of Jatoi’s Instagram posts. They were released without charges after submitting written apologies.
YouTuber Rajab Butt's interim bail extended
In a related but separate case, a Lahore sessions court on Monday extended interim bail for YouTuber Rajab Butt and co-accused Nadeem Mubarak until Feb. 16 over allegations of promoting online gambling.
Additional Sessions Judge Mansoor Ahmed Qureshi heard the bail petitions after the accused appeared before the court following the expiry of their earlier interim bail.
The judge extended interim bail for both men and adjourned the hearing.
The court had earlier directed the investigating officer to submit the case record, which is expected to be reviewed at the next hearing.
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