Arguments Closed: Court reserves ruling in Lodhi removal case

F K Butt, representing Lodhi, requests the court to set aside the termination notice and reinstate him.

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday reserved judgment in the case of former defence secretary Lt Gen (retd) Khalid Naeem Lodhi’s removal after counsels for both sides completed their arguments.

The former defence secretary had moved the IHC on January 17 after he was removed on charges of ‘gross misconduct.’

In his concluding arguments, counsel F K Butt representing Lodhi said that his client had been appointed as a defence secretary for a period of two years.

However, the prime minister had dismissed him from service, without issuing any charge sheet or a show-cause notice.

He requested the court to set aside the termination notice and reinstate Lodhi.

On the other hand, Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Tariq Mehmood Jehangiri maintained that since the government had appointed Lodhi as the head of the Fauji Fertiliser Company (FFC) for three years “there is no need to reinstate him in the previous job”.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2012.