ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that an advisory body should be created on the Reko Diq issue to oversee all aspects of the agreement.
A five-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising of Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, and Justice Jamaal Khan Mandokhel heard the presidential reference filed in the case.
The president on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had filed the reference last month to seek the top court’s opinion on the Reko Diq settlement agreement. During the course of proceedings, the Chief Justice said that the federal government was investing one billion US dollars in Reko Diq project and the powers had been handed over to the Balochistan government.
The CJP remarked that the state of transparency in this country was that some files in the cabinet were approved without opening it.
He said that in the Supreme Court’s judgment (2013) there was no mention of corruption by the multinational company. The CJP observed that the multinational company had taken advantage due to the fact that the Balochistan government did not have the capacity to refine gold.
The top court then stated that Afghanistan during the days of unrest entered into international agreements on better terms than Pakistan, he reminded.
He said that fine to the tune of 10 billion dollars was not a matter of any provincial body, it was against the country.
Referring to the Supreme Court’s 2013 judgment in the Reko Diq case that purportedly nullified the earlier agreement, Additional Attorney-General (AAG) Chaudhry Aamir Rehman said that had the matter of relaxing the rules been in the previous agreement, the court would not have declared it null and void.
Justice Munib said Reko Diq and other mining-related rules were a prerogative of provinces. “The $10 billion fine slapped on Pakistan by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Tethyan Copper versus Pakistan case is a ‘nuclear bomb,’ which could have created (economic) repercussions for the country,” he added.
He asked was the federation authorised to amend the provincial laws.
The Chief Justice asked did the then Balochistan government soften the rules for foreign mining companies.
The AAG replied in the affirmative and said that the Balochistan government had relaxed rules for the previous agreement. He assured the court that transparency and efficiency would be ensured in handling the matters related to Reko Diq.
Lawyer Balochistan Bar Amanullah Kunrani said that the government should not forget that Reko Diq gold could benefit Pakistan in a big way; however, ironically, Balochistan never got anything out of this project. The Barrack Gold has a worldwide monopoly, he added.
Justice Yahya Afridi remarked on the occasion that international agreements were the authority of the federation. He asked could the provincial government interfere in them?
Subsequently, the hearing of the case was adjourned till November 7.
