Embattled Shehbaz Says He Will Put Up A Fight.

ISLAMABAD -- Referring to the Supreme Court ruling over the Punjab chief minister's election, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that there should not be double standards in judiciary to deal with different political parties as it is against the spirit of the Constitution that clearly defines the role of every state institution.

Addressing the National Assembly here yesterday, the prime minister said, 'I ask that there was a time when a former chief justice took suo moto [notices] day and night ... when the courts summon then I think we should go with great respect. But if you have to decide then it should be on the basis of truth and justice. It can't happen that you treat me one way and treat someone else differently.'

'I greatly respect the judiciary and was only talking about double standards,' he said, arguing that it was his right to do so as an elected representative of the people.

Commenting on the current situation in the country, the Prime Minister said every institutions will have to exercise their powers within the ambit of the Constitution. He said the role of every institution, including the judiciary, the executive and the Parliament, has been well defined in the Constitution. He said the Constitution will continue to guide and strengthen Pakistan no matter how much someone tries to meddle with it.

About the PTI's government era, Sharif said that during the previous PTI government's tenure 'no one took notice' of various scandals such wheat and sugar crisis, the violation of its agreement with the International Monetary Fund as well as irregularities in the Peshawar BRT project.

'Who had planned to attack this parliament in 2014, who hung dirty clothes on the building of the Supreme Court, who asked the public to set fire to electricity bills. No one took notice, everyone was quiet,' he said, mentioning that the apex court had deemed the actions of former NA speaker Qasim Suri in March as a violation of the Constitution.

'[That was a] very good thing but no one summoned him. But the Punjab Assembly [deputy] speaker did an act and he was called to the court,' he said, referring to recent proceedings in the Supreme Court over the deputy speaker's ruling.

He went to say that the Constitution outlined the role and jurisdiction of the courts and other institutions, within which they were supposed to work. He lamented that in the 75 years had passed, the Constitution was tampered with and martial law was imposed, causing...