HYDERABAD, Sept 22: The Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, has directed the DPO (operations) Hyderabad to hold an inquiry into tempering of police record in respect of show-cause notices issued to activists of proscribed organizations for cancelling their surety bonds.

The bench allowed time to the additional advocate-general Sindh Masood A. Noorani to seek instructions from the provincial home department in the matter by September 26.

The division bench comprising Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Mr Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari passed the order while hearing identical matters of four activists of banned militant outfits Maulana Farooq Azad, Maulana Saeed Jadoon, Maulana Qutubuddin and Hafiz Rafi Mustafa.

The activists were detained under orders of the provincial home department as their names had been included in the fourth schedule as per provisions of 11-E of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The activists had sent telegrams to the court which were converted into separate constitutional petitions.

The petitioners alleged that date mentioned on show-cause notice had been tempered with by police in order to show that notice had been served on them the day they were issued notwithstanding the fact that they received the same after they were arrested.

According to show-cause notices, issued under sections 11-EE of the Anti Terrorism Act, the detained persons were to be given seven day time to reply to the show-cause notices to police authorities who have also to cite specific grounds of violation of the surety bond obtained from the petitioners to prove their good behaviour after they were listed under fourth schedule.

The notices required petitioners to submit their reply as to why their sureties bond should not be cancelled.

The police did not connect any material as to the violation of conditions of the surety bond, signed by the petitioners when their names were mentioned in fourth schedule list under provisions of the ATA by the provincial home department.

The judges were very much concerned about the fact that in the matter of detained Hafiz Rafi Mustafa Abbasi, represented by his counsel Qurban Ali H. Chohan, the date had been tempered with.

Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali pointed out to DPO Ali Ahmed Junejo that on the original copy of notice on court record the date was apparently tempered and it had been mentioned as July 12 though notice was received by detainee on July 21 when he was already arrested.

The DPO blamed detainee himself had tempered the notice because he was quite shrewd and had been involved in unlawful activities.

Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari noted that name of Maulana Qutbuddin had been deleted from the list of fourth schedule on July 16 but again after four days his name was inserted in the list on July 21.