ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) code of conduct bars its officials from revealing information about the matters under investigation without information.
The recent series of interviews of the Lahore NAB Director General Saleem Shahzad on a single day to different private news channels triggers new controversy and serious questions were also raised whether the Code of Conduct and Ethics of the bureau was followed while giving these interviews or come under the violation of the code of conduct.
The questions were also being raised on Lahore NAB DG Saleem Shahzad as whether he got permission either from the NAB chairman or deputy chairman for giving interviews to the private news channels to discuss the ongoing investigations against the individuals in NAB or cases in the accountability courts while giving the interviews on private news channels.
NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal has already directed the Pemra to provide complete record of the media talk of Lahore NAB DG Shahzad Saleem with private television channels so that the action could have taken as per law. According to NAB sources, the chairman will examine the Lahore NAB DG interview in the light of the NAB code of conduct that whether any violation of the code of conduct was made or not.
The NAB code of conduct and ethics comprised five chapters of policy, values principle, second chapter deals with code of ethics that relates to employment, chapter three deals with the conduct, chapter four deals with information and chapter deals with Accountability and Enforcement The chapter four of the code of conduct and ethics for the NAB officials that deals with the information clearly gives guidelines to all NAB officials about obligations on use of its information, and how to respond if publicly comment on bureau’s work.
As per NAB code of conduct and ethics, it was clearly mentioned that ‘As a rule the NAB official must not disclose any information that you acquire during the course of your work except in exercise of NAB’s functions. It would be tantamount to breach of security rules. Information may be disclosed only when authorised by chairman/deputy chairman if it is necessary in the public interest to do so. You must not use information to gain a personal or commercial advantage for yourself or any other person.”
NAB code also stated that “You should also ensure that your personal views are not presented or interpreted as official comment. If you become aware that comments you have made socially or inadvertently may be used to harm NAB reputation or compromise its work, you should notify your superior or the media officer immediately.” The Chapter 4 of the code of conduct and ethics of the NAB officials 4.1-- Obligations on the use of NAB information reads: “NAB’s work often involves access to sensitive or confidential information during the course of an investigation. Such information may be relating to government departments, political leaders and other govt officials or may pertain to personal or commercial information relating to individuals or companies.
“You must ensure that such information is dealt with appropriately and only used for the purposes of NAB. It (NAB) is often entrusted with sensitive information by other agencies for carrying out its investigative functions or to provide advice on corruption prevention. As a rule you must not disclose any information that you acquire during the course of your work except in exercise of NAB functions. “It would be tantamount to breach of security rules. Information may be disclosed only when authorised by the chairman/dy chairman if it is necessary in the public interest to do so. “You must not use information to gain a personal or commercial advantage for yourself or any other person.”
When handling sensitive information you should abide by NAB’s confidentiality policy. You should also exercise caution and sound judgement in discussing such information with outsiders. Normally information should be limited to “need to know basis”.
NAB files and other confidential documents and information are not to be removed from the premises except in accordance with the NAB’s security policies and procedures. If in doubt as how to manage or secure sensitive material, contact the Intelligence Wing of NAB for appropriate advice.
The 4.2 of the code of conduct and ethics for NAB officials that was about how to respond if publically comment on NAB work state that “NAB work is often sensitive and requires confidentiality. The very sensitivity of NAB activities makes it of interest to the community, and in particular, the media.” The unauthorised or improper release of information to the media may have the effect of compromising an investigation, adversely and unnecessarily affecting the reputation of individuals or undermining public confidence in NAB.
It is, therefore, important to ensure that information considered appropriate only for public comment is released. This is generally done in coordination with the authorised media officer of NAB. Media management is presently being supervised by COS under the directions of chairman/deputy chairman. Accordingly, Media Adviser, addl director (Media) and PRO (Media) are responsible for implementation of NAB’s media policy. The NAB chairman will authorise officers to make public comments on behalf of the bureau. You must only make public comments with this authorisation. If you receive any media inquiries, these should be referred to the concerned media officer who is the official spokesperson of NAB. Even if you do not provide any information to a journalist, inform the media officer of any approaches from the media for information or comments. The code of conduct stated that “Except when making authorised comment, discussions about NAB work should be confined to material that is already in the public domain. Public domain material includes published reports and discussion papers, annual reports, public relations material, transcripts of public hearings, media releases, and public addresses. If you are uncertain as to whether information is in the public domain you must consult the media officer immediately.”
