Former defence secretary Lt. Gen. (rtrd) Khalid Naeem Lodhi. - File Photo.

ISLAMABAD: Former defence secretary Lt-Gen (retd) Naeem Khalid Lodhi has decided to challenge his dismissal in court.

Talking to Dawn on Friday, Mr Lodhi said he was consulting lawyers to file a petition possibly in a high court against his removal by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Gen Lodhi claimed he had neither received any show-cause notice nor was privy to any inquiry conducted against him before the government issued the notification of his sacking.

“No disciplinary inquiry can be completed against an accused without hearing him and as far as I am concerned nobody has taken my statement,” Mr Lodhi said. Therefore, he said, he had every right to challenge the decision in court.

Replying to a question, he said he had been asked to sign an affidavit the federation had submitted to the apex court in the memo case but he had refused to do so. “Neither it was my statement, nor I was supposed to sign that document because it didn’t come under my purview,” the former secretary said.

In response to Gen Lodhi’s claim, a spokesman for the establishment division said the former secretary had sent letters of the COAS and ISI DG to the Supreme Court without seeking approval of the defence minister.

The approval was mandatory and so was getting the comments vetted from the ministry of law, justice and parliamentary affairs as required under the Rules of Business, 1973, framed under Article 99 of the Constitution.

The spokesman said the defence minister had asked for an explanation from the former official for not observing the legal procedure.

“He stated in his reply that he was new to the job and was, therefore, ignorant of the rules. The minister for defence received the explanation from former defence secretary and referred the matter to the ministry of law, justice and parliamentary affairs for expert views.”

The spokesman said the law ministry gave the opinion that the action of the former secretary was in gross violation of the mandatory rules. The action had created misunderstandings among institutions, the spokesman said.

He said Mr Lodhi had been a contract employee and the terms and conditions of his service could be terminated without assigning any reason, with a prior notice of 30 days or payment of one month’s salary.

On the recommendation of the law ministry and the defence minister, the prime minister terminated his contract in national interest, the spokesman added.

Gen Lodhi, who took over as defence secretary on November 28, is considered to be a confidant of Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.