Pakistan Wins Stay On Enforcement Of $6bln Award On Reko Diq

Fida Hussnain (@fidahassanain) Published September 18, 2020 | 11:40 AM

World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID stayed enforcement of the $ 6 billion award issued against Pakistan in Reki Diq case.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Sept 18^th, 2020) In what can be said major development in Reko Diq dispute, Pakistan won stay on enforcement of the $6 billion award issued against it on Friday.

World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) stayed enforcement of the $6 billion award issued against Pakistan in the Reko Diq case.

Attorney General for Pakistan called a success for Pakistan and its legal team.

International tribunal had earlier imposed $6 billion penalty on Pakistan for denying a mining lease to an Australian company .

Pakistan said that paying the fine would damage its ability to mitigate the Coronavirus pandemic.

The World Bank's ICSID on July 13, 2019, announced a 700-page judgment regarding a $5.976 billion (Rs 944.21 billion) award against Pakistan in the Reko Diq case.

The ICSID award includes a $4.08 billion penalties and $1.87 billion in interest to Tethyan Copper Company (TCC), a joint venture between Chile's Antofagasta Plc and Canada's Barrick Gold, the Chilean miner.

TCC filed claims for international arbitration before the ICSID of the World Bank in 2012 after the Balochistan government turned down a leasing request from the company. The litigation continued for seven years.

Former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in the Maulana Abdul Haque vs Government of Balochistan held that the "Chagai Hills Exploration Joint Venture Agreement" (CHEJVA) signed between the Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) and Broken Hill Properties Minerals Intermediate Exploration Inc. (BHP) in 1993 was void ab initio.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority retired Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa called this stay a great relief.

Taking to Twitter, Asim Saleem Bajwa said Prime Minister Imran Khan directed to fully support government of Balochistan for accelerated development of mineral sector in a transparent manner and structured system.