KARACHI: Self-exiled leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party and former provincial information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon may be booked in another corruption reference as the National Accountability Bureau informed the Sindh High Court on Monday that a complaint against him for unlawfully leasing out forest land was at an initialstage ofveriñcation.

The disclosure came in the comments filed by NAB before a division bench headed byJustice Naimatullah Phulpoto that was hearing Mr Memon` constitutional petitions seeking to restrain NAB from initiating more inquiries against him and from arresting him in other corruption cases on his arrival in the country.

The NAB in it s comments, filed in response to the court notice, submitted that a corruption reference against the former provincial minister and others for causing over Rs5 billion losses to the exchequer in the award of advertisements had already been filed.

It was submitted in the comments that Mr Memon was also involved in two more cor-ruption 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 2009 to 2014. The comments said that the matter involving illegal lease of the forest land was at an initial stage of complaint verification.

The NAB prosecutor told the judges that the accused was involved in corruption cases and he was not entitled to any relief as sought by the petitioner`s counsel.

He asked the court to dismiss his petition.

Mr Memon has been granted pre-arrest bail in two cases, one pertaining to illegalallotment of state land and the other with regard to illegal award of advertisement.

Memon, stated to have been living in selfexile in London, moved the court through his counsel seeking pre-arrest ball in connection with an investigation launched by NAB into illegal allotment and adjustment of land in 43 Dehs of Malir in favour of Bahria Town.

His counsel submitted that NAB had issued a call-up notice to his client on Oct 18, asking him to appear before it in connection with the investigation into the state land matter. He said Mr Memon wanted to appear before it and face the investigation but he was apprehensive about his unlawful arrest.

In the second petition of Mr Memon, his lawyer submitted that his client was granted interim bail by the high court on Oct 10 to surrender before the trial court and face charges of corruption in the award of advertisements.

But, he said, due to his illness and subsequent appointments with doctors he could not return to the country.

The counsel submitted that Mr Memon intended to surrender before the trial court but he was apprehensive of his arrest in the NAB reference since the bail would cease to have ef fect on Nov 7 and he was scheduled to fly back home on Nov 29.

Meanwhile, the same bench was informed on Monday that Sohail Akbar Shah, former principal secretary to the chief minister, had played a vital role in giving permission to a coal-mining company to excavate and sell coal in open market that caused a loss of Rs2.241 billion to the national exchequer.

The bench was hearing his bail application.