A sessions court on Friday revoked the interim pre-arrest bail granted to YouTuber Rajab Ali Butt in a case pertaining to hurting religious feelings.
Butt was booked by the Hyderi police on the complaint of lawyer Riaz Ali Solangi under the Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
On December 19, 2025, the additional sessions judge-I (Central) granted pre-arrest bail to the YouTuber against a surety of Rs100,000. On Friday, Butt’s bail plea for the confirmation or otherwise of the interim bail came up for hearing before the court. However, he was called absent. The defence lawyer submitted an application on his behalf, requesting the court to condone his absence from the hearing on medical grounds.
However, the complainant’s lawyer opposed the plea, saying he failed to appear in the court despite being on inteirm bail. “In view of the foregoing reasons, the application for condonation of absence filed by learned counsel for the applicant/accused is hereby declined,” ruled the judge.
“The applicant/accused was required to ensure his presence before the Court, but he has failed to do so without sufficient cause. Consequently, the instant bail before arrest application is dismissed for non-prosecution,” the court added, recalling interim bail granted to him.
According to the FIR, Solangi stated that on December 24, he watched a video of the YouTuber on social media that left him deeply grieved and hurt his feelings. The FIR was filed after a sessions court allowed the lawyer’s application seeking directives for the Hyderi SHO to lodge a case against the YouTuber on January 13, last year.
