The Supreme Court on Tuesday completed the hearing of the reference filed by President Dr. Arif Alvi in the Rekodic case.
A five-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Atta Bandial heard the case and the verdict on the presidential reference will be pronounced next week.
Before reserving the decision, the Chief Justice said during the hearing that the President has sought opinion from legal sources.
Chief Justice Bandyal said that the court will be cautious while giving an opinion on the issue of fundamental rights in the presidential reference.
He said that Pakistan is facing a fine of one billion dollars, the federal government has followed the constitution and law related to Rekodic agreement.
Chief Justice Bandyal said, “I am happy that the Recode Agreement has ensured the protection of international standards.”
Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan said that it is positive that no party in the Rekodic project entered into an illegal agreement.
“All lawyers agree that Recodec is a transparent and public contract,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Attorney General said that the negotiations on the agreement lasted for three years.
The Supreme Court held 17 hearings on the recoded presidential reference. The Chief Justice thanked all the judicial assistants, Additional Attorney General and lawyers.
On October 18, President Alvi filed a reference on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to seek the Supreme Court’s opinion on the Recodec Settlement Agreement under Article 186 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
The President asked two legal questions in the reference.
- In Maulvi Abdul Haq v. Federation of Pakistan 2013 case, whether the Government of Balochistan or the Government of Pakistan can enter into an international agreement as per the decision of the Supreme Court.
- If the proposed Foreign Investment (Protection and Promotion) Act 2022 will be constitutional.
In March 2022, the then finance minister Shaukat Tareen announced that an agreement had been signed with a foreign company, Barak Gold, to develop the Rekodic mine, according to which Balochistan would have a 25 percent stake.
Pakistan and the Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) had agreed on a share split in which both parties would get 50 percent of them, as opposed to a 25 percent stake for Pakistan in the previous deal.
In 2019, Pakistan was able to win a massive $16 billion to $6 billion fine in the Rekodic case. In a 700-page judgment, the Washington-based International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) awarded Pakistan a penalty of $4.08 billion and interest of $1.87 billion. The amount will be paid to TCC.
The firm was granted a license to mine gold and copper in Rekodak area of Balochistan, but former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry canceled the contract with the company.
