Chief Justice Saqib Nisar on Monday met National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal to discuss the bureau’s practice of leaking information of people facing NAB inquiries to the media.

The chief justice asked the NAB chairman that till the filing of reference against any individual, “NAB should maintain secrecy so that no embarrassment is caused to anyone”, read a statement issued by the apex court.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court took exception to the NAB’s practice of leaking information of people facing inquiries, leading to their character assassination without any charge being proved against them.

During a suo motu hearing regarding a matter related to excessive salaries of chief executive officers (CEOs) and others working in the public sector companies in Punjab, the chief justice had observed that the proceedings of the bureau were privileged in nature and could not be disclosed to the media officially.

“People summoned by the NAB come to know about those summons through media in most of the cases,” the chief justice had said and added, “We cannot allow this kind of accountability.”

Justice Nisar said the court had proof that the bureau treated people unjustly without possessing any evidence against them. He observed that this practice of the anti-corruption watchdog would discourage foreign investors.