2013 bench ‘knew fallout’ of cancelling Reko Diq deal

The counsel for the Balochistan government on Tuesday informed a five-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, that the presidential reference regarding the Reko Diq agreement was maintainable because it was a matter of public interest. Lawyer Salahudin Ahmed also informed the bench that despite elaborating dire consequences, a three-judge bench of the apex court led by then chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry did not stop the proceeding and declared the Reko Diq deal as void in 2013 which became the cause of $10 billion award against Pakistan by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). During a hearing of the presidential reference, the court wondered why the bench scrapped the deal after the rejection of complainant Tethyan Copper Company’s (TCC) application regarding grant of the mining lease by the Balochistan government in 2012. Ahmed stated that the court was informed that the matter was pending before the ICSID but former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry-led bench did not stop and give the judgment wherein the whole deal was declared as void in January 2013.