Foreign investment: Concessions given to Reko Diq should be available to all other projects: CJP

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said the new legal regime and the concessions are given not only for the RekoDiq reintroduction project but should be available to all the projects where an entire class of foreign businessmen like to invest in the country.

The chief justice further said the government should provide protection to the new investment, adding why not new foreign currency and investment come to Pakistan, and why not the government make such policies for all foreign investors?

Justice Bandial was heading a five-judge bench comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, which on Thursday heard the presidential reference on the RekoDiq project.

Justice Mandokhail inquired why the government has not declared mining as an industry? Additional Attorney General Amir Rehman replied that mining has been given the status of an industry. He said where there are economic crises then extra measures are required to be taken. He submitted that if relaxation is not given to Barrick Gold in the introduction of the RekoDiq project then the whole nation would have to pay over $10 billion (ICSID and ICC awards).

AAG briefs SC on history of Reko Diq case

Justice Bandial said, “We are seeing the justification for the relief.” He questioned which institution in the Balochistan government is so powerful that could protect this project. The CJP further asked who is going to supervise and keep an eye on the project. “You (the federal government) have to keep an oversight that this project does not collapse,” he added. The CJP suggested that the government should create an authority like that of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority to supervise this project.

Earlier, the AAG argued that the approval in this case has directly come from the Steering Committee, the highest forum. He then gave arguments on public policy, saying it has been described in the Objective Resolution, Fundamental Rights and the Principle of Policy enshrined in the Constitution.

The chief justice said the public policy should not be misused, but it should be used to advance the public good. It needs to be dispensed in a fair, transparent, and judicious manner. The AAG said what benefit will arise if the natural assets are not used for the development of the country and the people.

Justice Bandial said foreign investors must come but they should follow Pakistani laws. He also said that the Court must ensure that the checks, criteria and standards are satisfied in the international agreement, adding that the ABC of the transaction all over the world is similar in that the equity and smelting units are set up outside the place where the mining is done.

The chief justice asked the counsel that by your arguments, it seems that the government not only relaxed rather than facilitated the company but has not lowered the threshold. The AAG contended that if the relaxation had not been provided then this investment would have not come, adding if the investment does not come then the national economy suffers. For the first time, such a huge investment has come to Pakistan otherwise businessmen are shy to invest in Pakistan. He said total mining areas are 5,000 sq km, but only 164 sq km is given to Barrick Gold.

Justice Ijaz noted that with such baggage (penalty of $10 billion liability) to bring this kind of investment in Pakistan was not an easy task. He said once a high-level official stated that the government is ready to give Steel Mills to anyone in return for US$1 because its liabilities are in billions of dollars.

The case was adjourned until Monday (November 14).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022