The top legal officer of Balochistan told the Supreme Court Monday that Secretary Mines and Mineral Development had rejected Tethyan Copper Company Pakistan's pending appeal seeking the acquisition of Reko Diq's mining lease. Meanwhile, the court has directed the Registrar to re-issue notice to TCCA to submit a reply regarding the matter on March 6 (today).
A three-member bench of the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has been hearing identical petitions filed by former head (Amir) of Jamaat-e-Islami Balochistan chapter, Maulana Abdul Haq Baloch and others, making the Government of Balochistan and others respondents.
During the proceedings, Amanullah Khan Kanrani, Advocate General Balochistan, submitted the judgement of March 3 by the Secretary Mineral Balochistan in pursuance of apex court order in Reko Diq leasing case to dispose of the case within three days.
Counsel for the TCCP, Khalid Anwar, was provided with a copy of the judgement. He apprised the bench that he has learnt about the judgement on dismissal of appeal through television. Earlier, the Supreme Court summoned Tethyan Copper Company Australia (TCCA) to submit its reply in the matter, asking the petitioner to serve notice to the TCCA through fax, email as well as courier service and to pay cost for serving the notice.
Pakistan's diplomatic office in Perth (Australia) was also directed through Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assist the apex court in serving the notice to TCCA within the stipulated time. The bench adjourned the hearing till March 6.
Comments
Comments are closed.