KARACHI, March 23: The President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Friday expressed his inability to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Mr Justice Rana Bhagwandas as the acting Chief Justice of Pakistan.

In a fax message sent to Dawn, Mr Muneer A. Malik said while he had the highest respect for the learned judge, he wished to point out that in the presence of a Chief Justice “there can be no Acting Chief Justice”.“The order of General Pervez Musharraf making the Chief Justice non-functional is unconstitutional,” he said, adding the order of the Supreme Judicial Council restraining the Chief Justice from performing his functions “is also disputed as it is the case of the legal fraternity that the SJC is not a constitutional court and has no powers to interpret the constitution.”

In the circumstances, said the statement, “though we accept Mr Justice Rana Bhagwandas to head the SJC, we with the utmost respect decline to attend the oath-taking ceremony.”