Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday threatened to resign after he and senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders were barred from entering an accountability court trying deposed premier Nawaz Sharif.
Iqbal, Talal Chaudhry, Pervaiz Rashid, Raja Zafarul Haq and Danial Aziz were accompanying the deposed premier for his second appearance before a NAB court. However, only Nawaz was allowed entry inside the court premises.
Speaking to the media outside the court, Iqbal said, “This morning the chief commissioner informed me Rangers have taken control of the command and barred entry to anyone except Nawaz Sharif.”
Upholding that closed door trials were only held during martial law, the interior minister announced strict action against those who “challenged the writ of the government.” Iqbal said, “Rangers is a force under the Interior Ministry and are supposed to work under the command of the civil administration.”Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday lashed out at the Rangers for barring PML-N leaders, lawyers and supporters of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif from entering an accountability court in Islamabad where the former premier had appeared for a hearing regarding several graft cases opened against him.
Speaking to reporters before he departed from the court in protest, Iqbal said courts are "open spaces" which supporters and lawyers of the defendant could enter.
The minister said it was only during martial law governments that closed trials were conducted, adding that trials held in democracies are "transparent".
He said the Islamabad chief commissioner had decided on the names of media personnel and PML-N leaders and supporters who would be allowed to enter the court on Monday. However, he said, the commissioner informed him this morning that "Rangers have suddenly appeared and taken over this place".
He further said the Rangers are deployed under the command of the chief commissioner in Islamabad.
Iqbal said the chief commissioner informed him that when he [the commissioner] told Rangers officials that a plan prepared in advance would be followed regarding entry to the court, the Rangers officials in command refused to accept the plan and said they would follow the orders they have been given and "would not allow anyone but Nawaz Sharif to enter [the court]".
He said he was "forced" to take notice of the situation because "Rangers is a force which is subordinate to the Ministry of Interior and when they are deployed, they are supposed to work under the command of the civil administration".
Iqbal said if the Rangers had violated orders of the civil administration, a "high-level inquiry" would be ordered into the matter and it would be determined "who challenged the writ of the government".
The minister said the local commander of the Rangers "vanished" for 15 minutes when he was called to discuss the situation.
He also threatened to resign if the rule didn't become clear about what the writ of the state and the civil administration is.
"I cannot be a puppet interior minister," he said.
He further questioned whose orders the paramilitary force was following when the ministry he [Iqbal] heads did not issue the orders the force was enforcing.
"There will be one law here and one government... two states cannot function within one state."
The minister said he had also brought the issue to the notice of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. He also directed the district administration to submit a report into the incident.
Although a Rangers official came out of the court to convince PML-N leader Daniyal Aziz to attend the hearing, the minister refused to enter after several of his party leaders had already left.
