KARACHI: Here are some key facts about Pakistan’s acting Chief Justice Rana Bhagwandas:

— The first Hindu and the second non-Muslim head of Pakistan’s judiciary, he has been a Supreme Court judge since February 2000.

— He was acting Chief Justice for a few days in 2005 and 2006, during the absence from the country of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

— Born in the southern Sindh province in December 1942, Justice Bhagwandas has a postgraduate degree in Islamic studies and is considered an expert on constitutional law.

— He was a practising advocate for about two years before being appointed to the bench in July 1967. He was made a judge of the Sindh High Court in June 1994.

— A challenge to his appointment to the higher judiciary on the grounds that he was a non-Muslim was dismissed by the Sindh High Court in 2002.—Reuters