As syntax errors and sloppy writing gave them away, Maharashtra government checked with Rashtrapati Bhavan which said no such letter was issued.
The letter is forged and the state would take action against the duo for committing forgery, additional public prosecutor Jayesh Yagnik told a bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Sadhana Jadhav yesterday.
The court asked the state Government to file an affidavit to this effect by October 25 and posted the matter for further hearing on October 30.
Sub-inspector Dilip Parmar and constable Kantilal Mandole, both aged 56, have claimed in the petition that they had been given Presidential pardon in 2010.
When the prosecutor checked the fact with the home department of the state government, he was told that the letter could not be traced. Concerned, the home department approached Rashtrapati Bhavan which confirmed that no such pardon had been given.
In the petition, Parmar and Mandole said they were convicted along with five other constables for custodial death of a suspect in 1990 when they were posted at D N Nagar police station in suburban Andheri. They were dismissed from service after being sentenced to three years in prison by a Sessions Court in 1996.
The petition said as the High Court and Supreme Court dismissed their appeals and upheld their conviction, they filed a mercy petition with the President and were pardoned. They claimed the President directed the state government to reinstate them with full benefits.