Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today said he would rather go to jail for committing contempt of court than violate the Constitution by acting on the Supreme Court's ultimatum to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. 

Gilani's remarks at two public events in Bahawalpur region of Punjab province marked an escalation in the standoff between the PPP-led government and the Supreme Court, which has been pushing the premier to revive cases of alleged money laundering against the President in Switzerland. "If I write (to the Swiss authorities), then I violate the Constitution because parliament has given the President immunity in Pakistan and abroad.