Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that violation of court orders would not be tolerated under any circumstances adding that nobody is above the law and the constitution and all cases will be heard on merit under the law.He said while speaking at a session of the National Judicial Policymaking Committee (NJPC) held at the Supreme Court’s Lahore Registry. Chief justices of all four provinces also attended the meeting.

Addressing the participants, Chief Justice Chaudhry said: “we want supremacy of constitution and rule of law.” “Cheap and speedy justice is our top priority. We are trying to ensure the delivery of justice through judicial policy.”We are committed to fulfill our constitutional obligations,” he said, adding that judiciary is the custodian of constitution.He continued effective steps are being made to provide speedy justice. The chief justice said the performance of judiciary has improved a great deal over the last five years.

Chief Justice said that the judiciary was the defender of the Constitution and that it was determined to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities.Furthermore, he said that merit-based decisions of the courts had increased the level of public confidence in the judiciary.He added that judges must be provided with foolproof security as the country’s law and order situation in Pakistan, especially in areas such as Karachi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, remained unstable.Chief Justice Iftikhar also said that the country faced a shortage of judges, adding that despite having sent an application in this regard, the issue had remained unresolved.

Saturday’s session of the NJPC reviewed the implementation of the national judicial policy and other issues related to speedy settlement of cases.The committee meeting was attended by the chief justices of all high courts, as well as those of the Gilgit-Baltistan, the Azad Jammu & Kashmir Supreme Court and the Federal Shariat Court.The chief justice said the judges had persistently decided major cases in accordance with the Constitution and the law.