If Rangers found guilty, action will be taken against them: PM

Abbasi says he is willing to host grand national dialogue on the issue of NAB chairman’s appointment

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that the recent controversial deployment of Rangers outside an accountability court in Islamabad would be investigated and whosoever ordered deployment of paramilitary troops would be punished.

“It’s not clear who gave what orders. The judge asked the Rangers commander present on the court premises … but it’s not clear who ordered their deployment and who directed them to close the doors and not let anyone in,” Abbasi said in an interview with Javed Chaudhry in Express News show Kal Tak.

“Action will be taken according to the law against anyone found guilty,” the premier said when he was asked if Rangers commander Brigadier Asif would be punished if he was found involved.

“He can produce the order if the judge ordered the deployment,” he added. “Better to see it as an administrative matter and not in some other perspective.”



Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal was left incensed when the Rangers had denied him entry into the accountability court during the hearing of a corruption reference against deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday.

Calling it a ‘state within the state’, Ahsan said he would step down if he couldn’t find out who had ordered the Rangers deployment. Interestingly however, Premier Abbasi said he didn’t see “any state within the state”. He added that Ahsan made the statement in frustration because the court doors were never shut on anyone.

When quizzed if he had taken up the matter with army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, the premier responded in the negative. “This is not relevant to the army chief. It comes under the purview of the interior minister. The Rangers report to him. It is he who will investigate the issue,” he added.



Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi also said that he was ready to host a grand political dialogue to discuss the various challenges that the country was currently facing.

The Prime Minister also described the current NAB law as a ‘black law’ and said there was a need to change it.  “The NAB law was introduced by General Musharraf - a dictator - to put a check on some politicians.” He added that the current NAB law was perhaps the only law in the world under in which the accused have to prove that they are innocent.

Responding to a question about the appointment of a new Chairman NAB, Abbasi said the consultation regarding it was already underway.

Talking about deposed PM Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Abbasi said the party leaders and workers wanted him to continue to lead the party.

The Prime Minister also rejected the view that Elections Bill 2017 was passed in a hurry, and maintained that the bill, before its passage through the house, was discussed in detail for months at the different committees and sub-committees.