The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has withdrawn several petitions challenging the imposition of governor’s rule and emergency measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from its hearing schedule following directions issued by the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).
According to the PHC’s latest proceedings, petitions seeking the recovery of Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and National Assembly member Junaid Akbar have also been removed from the cause list.
The high court issued its revised hearing schedule for November 10 alongside an official notification directing that writ petitions filed under Article 199 of the Constitution on or after October 12, 2026, should not be scheduled for hearing.
Petitioners have instead been instructed to seek relief from the appropriate judicial forum.
The affected cases include constitutional petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council and MNA Shandana Gulzar, among others.
The petitions challenged the imposition of emergency measures and governor’s rule in the province.
The development follows an order issued on Thursday by the Federal Constitutional Court restricting the PHC from hearing cases related to the preventive detention of PTI workers and political activists under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance.
The FCC ruling was delivered by a two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan, with Justice Aamer Farooq serving as the other member.
The decision has affected the scheduling of several politically significant cases concerning constitutional powers, emergency measures and the detention of political figures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.