ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was requested on Monday through a petition to direct Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to withdraw termination orders of then defence secretary Lt Gen (retd) Naeem Khalid Lodhi till investigation into the memo scandal being carried out by a judicial commission was over.

Moved by Advocate Tariq Asad on behalf of Major (retd) Abdul Majid, the petition also pleaded the apex court to restrain the prime minister from passing any adverse order in an alleged unlawful manner against the army chief and the ISI director general.

On Jan 11, the government terminated the contract of Mr Lodhi on allegations of gross misconduct and illegal action and for creating misunderstanding between the state institutions.

The prime minister, the former defence secretary and acting secretary are named as respondents in the petition.

The petition said that the country and the people of Pakistan were facing acute problems due to political instability, issues related to foreign policy and economic crisis.