Report on World Bank’s arbitration court clarified

ISLAMABAD: The Office of the Attorney General of Pakistan (OAGP) has described a news report regarding the issuance of some award in the arbitration cases involving Reko Diq and some IPPs, published in Daily Jang and The News on Wednesday, January 2, 2019 as ‘false and fabricated’. A clarification issued by the OAGP said no award had been given nor any fines imposed as reported. The press release stated that the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) — World Bank’s arbitration court — was administering the Reko Diq arbitration and legal processes were ongoing in the matter. “The Award in this case is not expected for at least 6 – 8 months.” The case titled Karkey v. Pakistan, was also being administered by ICSID, legal processes were ongoing, the document said.

The OAGP went on to clarify that not a single IPPs case is/was being administered by ICSID, and regretted the publication of the news item.

News Desk adds: Commenting on the Attorney General’s statement, Jang’s senior journalist Hanif Khalid said the news report was based on information given by a reliable source and it was compiled with good intentions. The cases referred to in the report pertain to judicial proceedings. There are complete details of the Turkish company Karkey’s case and the award by International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) bearing signatures of three members/judges. It may be mentioned that the Turkish company sent its power producing ship to Karachi when the then prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf requested Turkey to help Pakistan out in the electricity crisis. Though Pakistan coul;d not get even 10-megawatt from this ship due to certain reasons, the company moved the ICSID which announced its award that Pakistan pay Karkey around $600 million while interest has also been accumulating on this sum since 2012.

Tethyan had signed a pact with Pakistan to develop minerals in Reko Diq. Later, the Balochistan High Court cancelled the Reko Diq lease. The Supreme Court of Pakistan also upheld the decision. After being refused relief by the SC, the company filed a damages suit in the international arbitration forum. The company pleaded that it had spent almost $3 billion in Reko Diq. Pakistan has submitted its stance to the arbitration forum, concluded Hanif Khalid.

The Jang Group’s Editorial Committee analysed Hanif Khalid’s stance and found it unsatisfactory. Further investigations are under way. However, the committee has regretted the news item, besides banned publication of Hanif Khalid’s news reports for one month.