ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Wednesday observed that all foreign investment is welcome but that should be subject to local laws.
Heading a three-Judge bench over pleas about award of exploration and mining lease in Reko Diq area of Balochistan, he observed "Every foreign company is welcomed in Pakistan but their agreements will be subject to our laws and not to their dictations."
"We are a sovereign country and welcomes such investments," he added.
Khalid Anwar, counsel for Tethyan Copper Company (TCC), a respondent, resumed his arguments over the issue and said that they took over the project after the BHP, its successor and a mining company, failed to do the project.
They made an exit after they realized that they had wasted money and time as reflected in their policy decision of 1992.
He said that they were commercial company answerable to their share-holders.
The Chief Justice questioned the issue of relaxation of mining rules on the dictation of company!
He said that they had mentioned that laws should not be persons-specific or company-specific.
"In Sandak Project, no rules were relaxed. Various projects are going on in different parts of the country including Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, from Sheerani to Bela in Balochistan, but there is not a single precedent showing such relaxation," he added.
The counsel insisted that BHP never applied for relaxation and every contract was always 'a choice between parties'.
He said they were here not to dry or deteriorate the investment but to improve it.
"I will not criticize those politician who never came in the last sixteen years but filed pleas after a discovery was made. We are a poor and terrorism-ridden country sustained by economic aids of International Monetary Fund," he said adding "We must be known to foreign investors as a trustworthy and fair nation."
Khalid contended that a Chinese company carried out the Sandak Project after a Pakistani company failed and the project was closed for six years.
He said the government was not capable to carry out a commercial activity like the Reko Diq due to structural impediment.
"The bureaucrats' training is not a business oriented as they are not trained to take business decisions," he added while referring to technical aspects of the project.
Giving a lengthy comparison of economic fluctuation of markets, he said "the laws of demand and supply are not subject to Supreme Court's decisions."
He said the Apex Court's decision on sugar rates did not break the cartel of shopkeepers.
He said he had no objection to the Court's decision on Steel Mills but if it had been privatized, about Rs 100 billion could have been saved.
The Russian and Saudi companies were interested in it and were willing to demolish its 40-year old and obsolete system, he added.
Defending the joint venture agreement, he said that from documentary record, it appeared that there was application of mind and the exercise spanned over 3 years of deliberations in which all the stakeholders were involved.
"Not only the Balochistan government was consulted but the federal government was also approached though there was no legal requirements," he added.
The counsel argued that in addition to it, the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Development was also requested for the data and input in relation to international practices over quantum of royalty.
He said that their mining area was 0.8 per cent of the area covered by other companies.
Further hearing was adjourned till March 8.
The bench is seized with hearing of a number of identical pleas filed by Tariq Asad Advocate, Barrister Zafrullah of Pakistan Watan Party and others against award of mining and exploration contract to the Tethyan Copper Company (TCC), a Canadian consortium of Barrick Gold and Antofagasta Minerals, for exploring gold and copper in Reko Diq, in Chagai district of Balochistan.
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