PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday suspended the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold fresh by-elections in PK-95 constituency in Lower Dir.

Read: Fresh by-election in Lower Dir on July 12

The high court's decision came as a two-member bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Mazhar Alam and Justice Arshad Qaiser was hearing the petition filed by the winning candidate Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Aizazul Mulk against the ECP's decision.

The petitioner, who is also JI's emir of Lower Dir, maintained before the two-member bench that the women who appeared before the court and claimed that they were barred from voting belonged to a non-government organisation (NGO).

Ayesha Syed, a JI MNA also informed the court that women were not barred from voting, but they had willingly not come out to vote.

In the light of the arguments, the bench suspended the ECP's decision of re-polling in PK-95.

None of the around 53,000 women voters in the constituency turned up to exercise their right to vote during the by-election held on May 7. The seat had fallen vacant because Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq had resigned from it after being elected as a senator.

Also read: Women remain indoors as JI wins Dir by-poll

The ECP took notice of the matter when reports emerged that political parties had in effect barred women from taking part in the electoral exercise and questions were raised about how such polls could be termed free and fair.

On June 2, the ECP announced that it had annulled the by-election held on May 7.

During the 2013 General Elections, no female voter turned out to cast their votes in Lower Dir district after a jirga decided not to allow women to vote in the Lower Dir constituency.

Examine: Agreement surfaces barring women from polling in Lower Dir