A Lahore district and sessions court on Monday granted interim pre-arrest bail to YouTuber Rajab Butt and TikToker Nadeem Mubarak in a case related to the alleged promotion of gambling apps.

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has registered cases against several YouTubers on charges of promoting and encouraging a gambling application, including Butt and Mubarak.

Both social media influencers appeared in front of Additional District and Sessions Judge Mansoor Ahmed Qureshi on Monday.

Their lawyers contended that the two wanted to join the investigation against them to prove their innocence.

The judge granted pre-arrest bail to Butt and Mubarak, restraining the NCCIA from arresting them till January 6. The judge also directed both suspects to join the investigation before the next date of hearing.

The development comes days after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted 10-day protective bail to the social media influencers in response to a petition filed by Butt and Mubarak’s relatives, who had arrived in Pakistan from London on Dec 10.

Subsequently, the two had approached the Lahore sessions court and filed separate bail petitions.

Cases against the two

According to official records, the two are nominated in several FIRs registered under various cybercrime provisions, including allegations related to operating or promoting gambling applications, misuse of digital platforms and online harassment. The FIA had earlier issued multiple notices, but their stay abroad meant no substantial progress could be made in the investigations.

In September this year, Butt was booked by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) for allegedly promoting online gambling apps on social media.

Nadeem was also booked by the NCCIA for allegedly promoting gambling apps on his social media, but he was also arrested in September for displaying a fake registration number – ‘IK-804’ – on his car.

On being quizzed, he couldn’t satisfy the police with regard to displaying the fake registration number, IK-804, which is said to be the prisoner number allotted to incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan.

Meanwhile, in March, Butt was also booked under blasphemy and cybercrime laws due to a “religious stir” caused by the launch of his perfume brand that allegedly mocked Pakistan’s blasphemy law. Butt launched his “295” perfume, which refers to the namesake blasphemy law in the Pakistan Penal Code.

Last December, the YouTuber found himself in legal trouble when he was arrested for illegally keeping a lion cub and weapons at his residence. He pleaded guilty in January this year to owning an undocumented wild animal after accepting the cub as a wedding gift.

He avoided jail by promising a judge to post animal rights videos for a year.