Bail granted to three in case involving YouTuber's wife

Court questions evidence, says detention not justified at this stage

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has granted bail to former Additional Director Sarfraz Chaudhry and co-accused Shoaib Riaz and Salman Aziz in a case involving alleged bribery linked to the wife of YouTuber Saadur Rehman, known as Ducky Bhai.

Justice Abher Gul Khan issued a detailed six-page verdict, ordering the release of the accused against surety bonds of Rs100,000 each.

According to the complainant, Sarfraz Chaudhry allegedly received a bribe of Rs500,000. However, the court observed that the available record does not establish that Chaudhry directly received any amount from the complainant.

The judgment further noted that while the accused were alleged to be involved in receiving bribes from call centres, the prosecution failed to produce any affected individual to substantiate these claims.

The court also highlighted that an amount of $326,420, recovered from a digital account associated with Ducky Bhai, has been included as part of the case property.

It added that allegations regarding the transfer of the amount into a personal account by the investigating officer would be determined during trial proceedings.

Concluding that sufficient grounds for further detention were not established at this stage, the court approved the bail petitions and ordered the release of the accused.