Gen Lodhi challenges termination orders

ISLAMABAD: Challenging his termination before the Islamabad High Court (IHC), former secretary defence Lt Gen (retd) Khalid Naeem Lodhi, in his writ petition, said the respondent government functionaries had pressurised him to sign an affidavit on the memo issue prepared by them in complete conflict with the factual position as narrated by the army chief and DG ISI in their statements submitted before the apex court.

Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan of the IHC will hear the petition today (Wednesday). The petitioner also said the respondents were overwhelmed with mala fide motives to terminate his services with a view to clear their way to take further illegal steps to arbitrarily remove the Chief of Army Staff and Director General Inter Service Intelligence (ISI).

Lodhi has prayed to the court to set aside the notification of his termination No: 10/05/2011-E-I dated January 11, 2012. He has also prayed that the court provide him with an interim relief suspending the notification.

The petitioner, while nominating the president of pakistan, prime minister, and federation of Pakistan, through cabinet secretary, secretary establishment and Acting Secretary Defence Nargis Sethi, through his legal counsel Munir Paracha, has prayed to the court to declare his removal notification mala fide, without jurisdiction and lawful authority and having no legal effect.

The petitioner told the court he was a retired Lieutenant General of the Pakistan Army and was appointed as secretary defence division on a two-year contract on November 28, 2011. He submitted that on January 11, 2012 the respondents released a news item to national and international print and electronic media, to the effect that he had been dismissed for gross misconduct. However this was done without issuing any charge sheet/show cause notices or holding an inquiry against him. The copy of his termination letter was delivered at his home through a special messenger.

The petitioner submitted in the petition that the contents of the notifications delivered to him were totally in conflict and at variance with the allegations of misconduct leveled against him through the media. The only reason cited in the notification is an undated note issued by the defence minister to him on December 23, 2011 seeking some information regarding a letter that the petitioner had submitted before the honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan. Upon receipt of the letter from the defence minister, the petitioner provided him the information through a written reply on December 28, 2011, Lodhi said.

He said he had submitted his statement before the Supreme Court through, and with the consent of, the attorney general of Pakistan; therefore the grounds mentioned in the notification regarding his removal were not sustainable. The petitioner said submitting answers before the superior and lower courts was a common practice and had no involvement of either the Law Ministry or the law minister.

The petitioner through his writ petition told the court he was stigmatised with the allegations of misconduct and condemned unheard in violation of his constitutional rights and theprinciples of justice. He said his removal was a preamble to another desperate step by the respondents to remove the Army Chief and DG ISI as forecasted by the media.

The petitioner further said that the prime minister could not digest the rejoinder of ISPR issued in response to his irresponsible statement to the ‘Peoples Daily Online’ China, and he immediately dismissed him the same day. The petitioner said that the termination of his contract was a violation of articles 4, 14 and 25 of the Constitution.