Supreme Court declares null and void Reko Diq agreement

The Supreme Court on Monday declared the Reko Diq agreement as null and void, saying that the agreement signed in July 1993 was contrary to the country’s constitution.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary announced the short order in the Reqo Diq case.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry read out the paragraphs 11 and 12 of the short verdict according to which the agreement between the parties was termed illegal as it did not follow the laws. The court moreover admitted for hearing the petitions that had been filed pertaining to the agreement.

The SC had reserved its judgment on December 21 as counsel of all the petitioners and respondents had completed their arguments. It is vital to mention here that cases pertaining to Reko Diq were being heard in different courts for the past five years.

A number of identical petitions were filed in the apex court against the lease of gold and copper mines in Reko Diq, Chaghi district, to the Tethyan Copper Company (TCC). Khalid Anwar, counsel for the TCC, defended the lease deal reached between the company and the Balochistan government.

The TCC also invoked the jurisdiction of the International Chambers for Commerce (ICC) and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputed against the Government of Pakistan for not renewing the prospective Reko Diq minerals licence in accordance with Balochistan Mining Rules 2002.

Reko Diq sits over the popular Tethyan copper belt and is known to have the fifth largest deposits of gold and copper in the world.

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Posted by Web Desk on Jan 7 2013. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.