Peshawar - The Peshawar High Court’s Mingora bench has declared delimitation of all Swat constituencies null and void.

The Express Tribune reported that the bench also directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to review the demarcations within two days.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Sanaullah Khan filed a petition against newly carried out delimitation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s PK-4 while Awami National Party (ANP) leader Brig Saleem did the same in NA-2 and Haider Ali in PK-6 in the court.

The PHC accepted the petitions and ordered new delimitation within two days. A copy of the verdict has been sent to the ECP.

Last week, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) set aside delimitation of constituencies in Kasur, Sheikhupura, Ghotki, Haripur, Bahawalpur and Kharan, while allowing 21 petitions, and referred the cases back to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for fresh demarcation.

IHC’s Justice Aamer Farooq declared delimitations in the six districts void a day after he set aside the delimitation of constituencies in Jhelum, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh and Lower Dir districts and referred the cases back to the ECP.

According to the Elections Act, 2017, the commission shall delimit constituencies after every census published. The petitioners raised objection to the delimitation and pointed out that constituencies have been created prior to the elections on political grounds.