PHC strikes off petitions against governor's rule

FCC order forces removal of cases; recovery petitions of Afridi, Speaker also dropped

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has deleted from its cause list all writ petitions filed against the imposition of emergency and Governor's Rule in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, as well as arrests made under the three Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinances, in compliance with directives issued by the Federal Constitutional Court.

Among the petitions removed are those seeking the recovery of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Provincial Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and Junaid Akbar. Following the decision of the Federal Constitutional Bench, these petitions cannot be heard until further orders.

Several high-profile challenges to the emergency and Governor's Rule had been pending before the PHC. These included petitions filed by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, National Democratic Movement Chairman Mohsin Dawar and Member of the National Assembly Shandana Gulzar.

The Administrative Committee of the PHC issued a formal notification in light of the Federal Constitutional Bench's orders. It directed that no writ petitions filed on or after 12 October 2026 be fixed for hearing. The committee further ordered that petitions filed under Article 199 of the Constitution would be returned. Consequently, the PHC removed all petitions challenging the imposition of emergency and Governor's Rule from its cause list.

The Federal Constitutional Court had earlier restrained the PHC from hearing writ petitions, including those related to the three MPO laws and other connected matters.

In its instructions, the High Court's Administrative Committee advised petitioners to approach the appropriate forum for relief.

It may be recalled that after the imposition of emergency and Governor's Rule in the province, the PHC, acting on the Federal Constitutional Court's orders, suspended the hearing of all constitutional petitions under Article 199 of the Constitution that were filed on or after 12 October 2026. The court also ruled that no new writ petitions would be entertained.

The development effectively freezes judicial scrutiny at the provincial high court level of the extraordinary measures taken in K-P, shifting any further legal challenge to the forums designated by the Federal Constitutional Court. Petitioners seeking the release of political leaders and challenging the constitutional validity of the emergency and Governor's Rule now face a procedural barrier at the PHC until the superior court's orders are modified or withdrawn.