Pakistan likely to challenge UK high court’s decision in Reko Diq case

LONDON – Pakistan considering various options, including challenging the Britain high court’s decision which denied its right to mount corruption allegations as a defense to challenge the jurisdiction of an arbitrarily tribunal in the Reko Diq case.

Reports in local media quoting government officials said Pakistan is considering various options to deal with the Reko Diq case, as it is facing a staggering penalty of $6 billion. “Pakistan will approach a higher forum against UK high court decision as we want to place new evidence of corruption against the Tethyan Copper Company, the official told Express Tribune.

The report further cited that the gold mining giant approached various forums including the British Virgin Islands BVI high court for the enforcement of the award. However, the BVI court has already trashed its plea.

Meanwhile, experts believe that the complainant firm has no option except to accept an out-of-court settlement deal. Enforcement proceedings regarding the $6 billion award is a cumbersome process and not a considerable option for the complainant when the South Asian company has very limited assets abroad.

On July 6, the UK high court dismissed Pakistan’s plea to raise corruption charges in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), which is hearing the Tethyan Copper Company’s (TCC) case against Pakistan.

It ruled that the province of Balochistan can no longer plead corruption allegations against the gold mining giant as the Supreme Court of Pakistan had not based its decision on corruption allegations.

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In the 98-page verdict by Justice Robin Knowles, the court ruling comes as a setback for the South Asian country as its legal team had sought to get the whole case dismissed using Pakistan’s top court ruling, but the London Court found that Balochistan opted not to raise the issue of corruption during the international arbitration and in fact, didn’t even allege corruption.

The court further ruled that Balochistan forfeited its right to mount corruption allegations to challenge the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal adjudicating claims over the Reko Diq gold and copper mines in Balochistan.

The judge also acknowledged that Pakistan’s highest court hadn't based its decision on the country’s claim and allegation that the agreement was secured as a result of bribes or corrupt practices. Pakistan’s Supreme Court had made no reference to the allegations of corruption in its decision while declaring the agreement as invalid, it stated.

The judge noted that Balochistan had enough opportunities to raise the corruption allegations before the international tribunal but it chose not to bring up the issue of corruption and instead chose a different jurisdiction to launch the case.

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