In a clear warning to the government, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry late on Thursday night said that only law and constitution will prevail in the country and the judiciary will not accept any unconstitutional step being taken by the executive, Dawn News reported.
Addressing a gathering at a dinner reception hosted in his honour by the Balochistan High Court in Quetta, Justice Chaudhry said that the issues, which should have been dealt by the executive, were being resolved by the judiciary.
He said that the judiciary was fully aware of its responsibilities and all institutions of the country were bound to act under their constitutional ambit.
He regretted the noncompliance of the constitution in the country and vowed to resist any unconstitutional action taken against the judiciary, the parliament or the masses. “We have taken oath under the constitution and will defend it at any cost. It is the judiciary’s responsibility to make justice available for everyone. Tradition of respecting law is vanishing fast in the country,” he said.
Expressing concern over the law and order situation in the country, Justice Chaudhry said Pakistan was presently facing the worst kind of lawlessness, bloodshed, kidnapping for ransom and disregard for the supremacy of the constitution. “Is there any place of the country where rights of the people are being protected?” he asked, adding that nothing but the rule of law was the solution for Pakistan’s problems.
He also emphasised on implementation of the constitution in Balochistan as elsewhere in the country. Earlier on Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf must write to Swiss authorities, when a three-judge bench of the apex court comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh heard the NRO implementation case in the federal capital.
Judiciary won’t accept any unconstitutional action: CJP
