LAHORE: In the wake of a controversy triggered by TV interviews of National Accountability Bureau’s Lahore Director General Shahzad Saleem, NAB chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal has barred all his colleagues from speaking to media.

“The chairman has imposed a complete ban on all directors general, directors and other officials to give interviews to media. If the media requires any information about any investigation or reference, a spokesperson for NAB will be bound to brief it,” the bureau said.

During his visit to the bureau’s Lahore office here on Monday, the NAB chairman said the bureau respected all members of parliament.

“NAB has sought record from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority about its Lahore DG’s media interviews which will be reviewed according to law,” Justice Iqbal said and asked the media not to speculate about the ongoing investigations.

Chairman promises to see whether the bureau’s Lahore chief breached parliamentarians’ privilege

Shahzad Saleem gave interviews to different TV channels last week and defended the bureau in the face of allegations, especially by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif in the Ashiyana housing scam.

The opposition on Friday last submitted a ‘question of privilege’ in the National Assembly and demanded immediate intervention of the house in the matter. The PML-N accused the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government of having a ‘nexus’ with NAB for arm-twisting of the opposition members.

In the privilege motion, the PML-N accused Mr Saleem of conducting a “media trial of opposition members, attempting to influence the so-called cases against the members of the National Assembly, providing details of the matters that are sub judice, revealing details of confidential and secret NAB documents and maligning the reputation of the members of the parliament”.

The NAB chairman promised to see whether the privilege of parliamentarians had been breached.

Justice Iqbal also reviewed progress in mega corruption cases being investigated by NAB’s Lahore office and said the “accountability for all” was the bureau’s policy. “It is the top priority of NAB to take the mega corruption cases to their logical end,” he added.

He directed NAB officials to complete investigation in a case in 10 months so that corrupt elements could be brought to justice.

Later, speaking to the people affected by the Eden Housing Society scam, Justice Iqbal said NAB had been working on this case and they would be compensated soon.

A number of affected people told the NAB chairman that they were keen on getting their plots in the Eden Housing Society instead of compensation.

They also demanded bringing Dr Murtaza Amjad, the son-in-law of former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, from Dubai where he was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency.

According to NAB, more than 11,000 people have been affected by this scam.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2018