Zardari confirms three SHC judges despite tax default allegations

Justice Nisar Muhammad Shaikh, Justice Nadeem Akhtar and Justice Shafi Siddiqui made permanent members of SHC.

President Asif Ali Zardari has confirmed the appointment of three judges, Justice Nisar Muhammad Shaikh, Justice Nadeem Akhtar and Justice Shafi Siddiqui, for Sindh High Court (SHC), reported Express News on Monday.

The principal seat of the high court in Karachi and its benches in Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana were short of judges – working with only 24 when it should have 40.

On February 13, The Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of Judges, headed by Senator Aitzaz Ahsan had refused to grant permanent jobs to Justices Nadeem Akhtarn and Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui because of tax defaulting. It cleared the name of Justice Nisar Shaikh.

Members of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) held a general body meeting on Thursday and condemned the “baseless” allegations against the two judges.

“The bar association feels that the parliamentary committee wrongly victimised honorable judges of the SHC on baseless grounds,” they stated in a unanimously adopted resolution.

Today Zardari confirmed and signed Nisar, Akhtar and Siddiqui's appointment letters, making them permanent members of the SHC.