Enforcement Directorate warns its officers of punitive action if they interact with media
India

Enforcement Directorate warns its officers of punitive action if they interact with media

In a fresh circular, the Enforcement Directorate has said any interaction with the media will amount to ‘dereliction of duty’.

   
Enforcement Directorate

Logo of Enforcement Directorate | Twitter

New Delhi: To further restrict its officers from interacting with the media, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Tuesday issued a memorandum stating if any officer, other than those authorised for the purpose, is found to be interacting with the media, he or she will be liable for “punitive action”.

The fresh memorandum undersigned by ED director S.K. Mishra has been marked to all special directors and joint directors in the headquarters in the national capital, all officers and officials of HIU (headquarter investigative unit) and all other deputy directors, assistant directors, enforcement officers and assistant enforcement officers across the agency.

According to a source, the latest circular comes in the wake of non-compliance with a technical circular issued in April, asking officers to not speak to the media.


Also read: Meet Zameer Ahmed Khan, the man who helped HD Kumaraswamy pull off (and survive) coups


‘Leak’ of chargesheet to media

The previous circular was issued after the alleged leak of the ED’s supplementary chargesheet in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case to the media. The alleged middleman and accused in the case, Christian Michel, had told a Delhi court that the ED had leaked the details of the chargesheet to the media before sharing it with him.

“Michel has not named anyone in his statement before the agency which is being leaked to media. This is only to make the matter sensational and prejudice the case against my client,” Michel’s counsel had said.

Following the development, a Delhi court had pulled up ED for the alleged leak, saying the denial given by the agency did not inspire any confidence and was not worthy of reliance.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar had even directed the ED’s director to ensure that “no such incident like the leak of the documents is repeated in future in any matter”.

The circular

According to a source, despite the technical circular issued in April, some zonal officers, assistant directors and joint directors still kept in touch with the media, which irked the ED director.

“It has been observed that certain information related to ongoing investigations have been published in the media. These information relating to impending action may jeopardise the interests of ongoing investigations,” the circular said.

“To avoid unwarranted interaction with the media, a technical circular has also been issued. However, it has been noticed that the aforesaid circular has not been followed in right spirit,” it read.

The circular stated any officer found to be in touch with the media will be liable for punishment. “Henceforth any Officer, other than the authorised officer, if found (to be) interacting with the media, the same should be brought to the knowledge of the Principal Special Director or the undersigned immediately. Any deviation will amount to dereliction of duty and liable for punitive action,” the circular said.


Also readED attaches Gurugram villa ‘owned by Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed’