World Bank Tribunal grants stay in Reko Diq case
Monitoring Desk :
QUETTA: The World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has granted a stay in the enforcement of a penalty awarded against Pakistan in the multi-billion dollar Reko Diq lease case.
“The stay is a success for Pakistan”, the Attorney General’s office said in a statement.
Tribunal enforced 5.97 dollars penalty against Pakistan
In July 2019, an ICSID tribunal had slapped a whopping $5.97 billion award against Pakistan for denying the mining lease to Australian company Tethyan Copper Company (TCC). The government was criticized on social media for its failure to present the case effectively.
Immediately thereafter, the TCC commenced proceedings for the enforcement of the award, the AG office statement said, adding that Pakistan had in November 2019 challenged the award and initiated proceedings seeking its annulment.
In March this year, the AGP office announced that it had filed a request on Nov 8, 2019, for the annulment of the award rendered by the ICSID on July 12, 2019, in the matter of TCC versus Pakistan. Alongside the plea for annulment, Pakistan had also requested a provisional stay on the enforcement of the award issued against the country on Nov 18, 2019.
Pakistan was granted the provisional stay upon initiating annulment proceedings after which hearing to confirm the stay order took place over the ‘video link’ in April this year. On Sept 16, 2020, the tribunal finally ruled in favor of Pakistan, confirming the stay on the enforcement of the award.
The ICSID is expected to issue a final judgement in May 2021 in this regard.
Reko Diq is located in Balochistan’s Chaghi
Reko Diq, a small desert town in Chagai district of Balochistan province, is famous for its mineral wealth, including gold and copper. The area is located in Tethyan belt that stretches all the way from Turkey and Iran into Pakistan.
