ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said the government held the judiciary in high esteem and would ensure its independence in the country.

He was talking to Yasin Azad, President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) who along with a delegation of lawyers called on him at the Prime Minister House here.

The prime minister said the Pakistan People’s Party had played a major role in the movement for the restoration of judiciary.

Gilani said no country could function properly without adhering to its constitution.

He said there would be no clash of state institutions, provided they work within their respective ambits.

The prime minister appreciated the consistent stand of lawyers for rule of law, democracy and the Constitution.

Gilani said he would soon launch a housing scheme for lawyers. He announced provision of two buses for SCBA and 100 million rupees for its building in addition to the 350 million given last year.

He hoped that the SCBA President would work for the betterment and welfare of the lawyers’ community.

The SCBA President thanked Prime Minister Gilani for his support and assured him that lawyers would always stand for the independence of judiciary.

He said the country's lawyers fully supported the notion that an elected government should complete the five-year term and said the right to change the government rested with the people.

He said the state’s institutions should work within their respective domains as envisaged in the Constitution and added that transgression into each others' ambits leads to their weakening.

He said lawyers had never supported dictatorships in the past and would never do so in the future, adding that accountability of a government lied with the people of the country.