Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday accused the judiciary of having “double standards” with their treatment of different political parties. The prime minister’s criticism of the judiciary came a day after the Supreme Court struck down Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari’s ruling and removed his son and fellow PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz as the province’s chief minister. Addressing a session of the National Assembly (NA), Shehbaz said that while he respected the courts, he was also an elected representative and questioned “when the truth would be spoken, if not today.”“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.” He reiterated that he greatly respected the judiciary and was only talking about “double standards”, adding that it was his right to do so as an elected representative of the people. The prime minister 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 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.” ..Source: dawn.com
Saturday, May 9, 2026
