President Alvi files reference in Supreme Court over Reko Diq pact

President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court under a presidential reference to seek the apex court's opinion over the settlement pact on Reko Diq mine.

The reference has been filed in the Reko Diq case as per the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The decision to send the presidential reference on the matter to the SC had been earlier approved by the federal cabinet.

In March 2022, the-then finance minister Shaukat Tarin announced that an agreement for the development of the Reko Diq mine had been reached with a foreign company Barrick Gold, according to which Balochistan would have a 25% share.

Pakistan and Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) had agreed to divide shares with each side getting 50% of them, contrary to 25% shares for Pakistan in the previous deal.

In 2019, Pakistan managed to get a reduced penalty from a massive $16 billion to $6 billion in the Reko Diq case. In a 700-page ruling, the Washington-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) awarded a $4.08 billion penalty and $1.87 billion in interest to Pakistan. The amount will be paid to TCC.

The firm had been granted a licence for gold and copper mining at Reko Diq, area of Balochistan, but the former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry had cancelled the agreement with the company.