QUETTA: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry late on Thursday 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, DawnNews reported.

Addressing a gathering at a dinner reception hosted in his honour by the Balochistan High Court in Quetta, the chief justice said that the issues, which should have been dealt by the executive, are being resolved by the judiciary.

He said that the judiciary was fully aware of its responsibilities and all institutions of the country are bound to act under their constitutional ambit.

Justice Chaudhry regretted over noncompliance of the constitution in the country and vowed to resist any unconstitutional act taken against the judiciary, the parliament or the masses.

The CJ said that he has 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 added.

Expressing concern on overall law and order situation, the chief justice said the country was presently facing the worst kind of lawlessness, bloodshed, kidnapping for ransom and disregard for the supremacy of the constitution.

He also emphasised on implementation of the constitution in Balochistan as elsewhere in the country.

In the ongoing rift between the judiciary and the executive, President Asif Ali Zardari earlier on Thursday had signed a new bill into law providing blanket immunity to top government functionaries for their executive actions.

Moreover, the Supreme Court ruled that Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf must write to Swiss authorities to reopen multi-million dollar corruption cases against the president.

The apex court had also dismissed PM Ashraf’s predecessor Yousuf Raza Gilani as prime minister on June 19 after convicting him of contempt in April for refusing to write the letter.