The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has imposed a penalty of $5.976 billion against Pakistan in the Reko Diq case.
The international tribunal issued a 700-page ruling against Pakistan, awarding a $4.08 billion penalty and $1.87 billion in interest. Pakistan has, meanwhile, decided to challenge the award ‘very soon’ by filing a revision application. The revision application may take two to three years to decide.
The Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) had claimed $11.43 billion in damages in claims for international arbitration before the ICSID in 2012 after the Balochistan government had turned down a leasing request from the company. The litigation continued for seven years. Former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s verdict in the Reko Diq case was the first in a series of events that led to the massive award.
After the case was filed, Pakistan lost its first jurisdictional challenge, when the international tribunal said it has the jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter. After that, the tribunal declared that there was no wrongdoing in the agreement – the grounds on which the Supreme Court had terminated the deal in 2013 – and eventually the tribunal held that Pakistan is liable to pay the damages. The only remaining issue in the case was the final penalty on Pakistan, which has been now announced.
Dr Samar Mubarak Mand had appeared before the tribunal to represent Pakistan. He had told tribunal that Reko Diq would give Pakistan $131 billion and had assured that Pakistan would export gold worth $2.5 billion annually.
