PESHAWAR, April 19: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on Monday put the federal interior ministry on notice in a writ petition filed by three assistant superintendents of police against alleged dropping of their names by the government from the squad which would join the UN peacekeeping force in Kosovo.

The bench, comprising Justice Shehzad Akbar Khan and Justice Ijaz Afzal, fixed April 20 for hearing the case and directed the deputy attorney-general to assist the court. The petition is filed by ASP Swabi Nasir Mahmood Sathi, ASP Hangu Abdul Jabbar and ASP Peshawar Tahir Khan. The petitioners apprehended that the government had removed their names from the contingent which was scheduled to leave for Kosovo on April 21.

The petitioners have cleared the test and interviews conducted for selecting officials for the contingent. Their names were mentioned in the merit list and then in the consolidated list. Their names were also mentioned in the final list sent to Kosovo.

However, the petitioners believed that their names were dropped by the government on the ground that they had not completed five years of police service. Ameerzaib Khan advocate appeared for the petitioner and contended that it would be an injustice with the petitioners if they were not allowed to join UN force in Kosovo.

The bench inquired whether a writ petition could be filed on the basis of apprehensions as the petitioners had yet not been informed by the government that their names had been dropped.

Mr Khan contended that they had learnt from sources that their names had been removed from the list. He added that the petitioners had no other option but to move this court as the contingent was scheduled to leave for Kosovo on April 21.

He added that at such a belated stage the government could not impose such conditions to the officials who had already cleared all the formalities.