PESHAWAR, July 10: A division bench of the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday directed its office concerned to fix within three weeks the identical writ petitions challenging the deprivation of women in different phases of local bodies elections in the NWFP.

The two-member bench comprising, Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Tallat Qayyum Qureshi, observed that the petitions were important and should be disposed of at the earliest.

The bench was hearing a writ petition filed by Bukht Zarina and Mashooq Zari, two women voters of Bamkhela Union Council, Swabi District.

They alleged in the petition that the candidates and notables of their area had prohibited women from casting votes during the second phase of local governments polls last year.  

The petition has been pending with the high court since it was filed last year.

Former attorney general Qazi Muhammad Jamil and advocate Ali Jamil Qazi appeared for the petitioners. Mr Jamil contended that a vast section of the society had been deprived of their basic right to elect their representative.

He appealed to the court that as now another election was approaching an order should be passed to curb such ill-practices.

Mr Jamil argued that the petition had remained undecided owing to the respondents’ delaying tactics, who — the elders of the area, candidates in the polls and political leaders — had struck a deal to stop the women from casting votes.

Justice Mulk pointed out that many similar petitions remained pending with the court; it would be appropriate to hear all those together and decide the issue.  

Mr Jamil also told the court that the high court passed an order on Oct 2, 2001, that the identical petitions should be clubbed together, and on Oct 2, 2001, it again passed the same order.

Finally, the court took up the petition for hearing on July 2, and issued directives that it should be fixed for July 10 with the other identical pleas, but the office concerned could not attach other petitions with it.

The petitioners have prayed the court to declare elections null and void in all such union councils where the women had been barred from casting votes. They also have placed on record a number of agreements, stating that these people could not negate those pacts.

They argued that casting vote was the constitutional right of every citizen and depriving any one of that right was illegal.

Many activists of the Aurat Foundation, who attended the proceedings, stated that any favourable judgment from the court would help discourage the practice of debarring women from casting votes in the general elections.