Daily Times

KARACHI: Former provincial minister and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sharjeel Inam Memon is likely to face yet another inquiry as the National Accountability Bureau informed the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday that a complaint against him for unlawfully leasing out forest lands was at the verification stage.

A division bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto had taken up a petition filed by Sharjeel, who is living in self-exile in London, seeking to restrain NAB from launching further inquiries against him.

Sharjeel had moved the court through his counsel pleading it to restrain the NAB from arresting him in other corruption cases on his arrival in the country.

In response to the court notice, the NAB’s prosecutor Noor Muhammad Dayo filed the comments, submitting that the NAB had filed a reference against Sharjeel and others with regard to corruption in the award of advertisements.

Moreover, he said, the former provincial minister is involved in two more corruption cases, including the unlawful allotment and adjustment of state land in 43 Dehs of Malir and illegal lease of forest land to private persons in Hyderabad from the period of 2009 to 2014. The matter involving illegal lease of forest lands is at initial stage of complaint verification, he added.

He told the judges that since the accused was involved in the corruption cases, therefore, he was not entitled to any relief as requested by the petitioner’s counsel. He requested the court to dismiss his petition.

The NAB prosecutor said Memon had been issued call in notices several times but he had failed to turn up.

The court had earlier granted bail to Memon against the surety bond of Rs2 million in connection with the investigations into illegal allotment of state land and adjustment of land in 43 Dehs. It had also extended his bail until Nov 14 in the case related to corruption in the award of advertisement.

Memon’s lawyer had submitted that his client wanted to appear before the accountability court and face the investigations but he was apprehensive about his unlawful arrest in other false and fabricated cases. He, therefore, pleaded the judges to restrain the NAB from arresting him in other cases.