We Will Defend Pakistan In Every Possible Way On Every Legal Front: Farogh Naseem

Farogh Naseem says that the decision of the Reko diq case is a great achievement of Pakistan, all frozen assets of PIA have been released.

Federal Law Minister Farogh Naseem while addressing a press conference in Islamabad congratulated the entire nation, including the Prime Minister, on the victory in the Reko diq case.

He further said that the company has a legal opportunity and they can appeal against the decision till the 4th. It is their legal right.

He said that on August 22, 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan called him and told him that the issues of Reko diq were being re-examined and a committee for legal strategy was formed headed by him and from that day onwards and a comprehensive strategy was adopted.

He said that he went to the United States and the United Kingdom, met with the lawyers, the Secretary-General of Exxon, after contacting all of them, sorted out his lawyers, restored some, removed some.

“We have a lot of strategies that I will not reveal right now because the law ministry tries not to advertise like this, but it is such a great achievement for Pakistan that it is presented in the right context,” he said.

“The most important strategy we have had is to discuss with American and British lawyers a doctrine of immunity,” he said.

The Law Minister said that the then-Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan was also with us in all these proceedings who have gone but whoever has the credit must get it.

He said that full credit goes to Ahmed Irfan Aslam, the head of the International Dispute Unit (IDU), who is the person whose efforts helped us to succeed in the case and on the recommendation of the Ministry of Law. He was also awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz.

He said that there was a big point of exemption of autonomy to support the faltering economy which was accepted by the BVI court and as a result, Roosevelt and Scribe hotels were restored.

He further said that no matter what the global case is, the law ministry is pursuing it with a comprehensive strategy and since the matter is sensitive, it cannot be discussed openly.

He said that the Ministry of Law already has a lot of work to do, many amendments have been made in the law which have started reaping the fruits in different ways.

We will defend our country in every possible way on every legal front, the Minister said.

Background Of the Case

Note that, in July 1993, the then Chief Minister of Balochistan, Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi, gave the contract for the Reko Diq project to the Australian company PHP.

The project, located on 3,347,000 acres in Balochistan, was contracted for drilling only, but the Australian company had contracted with the Italian company Tethyan to do more work without trusting the Balochistan government.

The Australian company had tried to sell Reko Diq’s gold and copper to Canada, Italy and Brazil through the port of Gwadar, giving Balochistan only 25 per cent of its total revenue.

However, the Balochistan government cancelled the agreement after irregularities by the PHP. Later, the provincial government decided in 2010 that the provincial government would work on the project itself.

In January 2013, then-Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry annulled the Reko Diq agreement between the Balochistan government and the Australian mining company, calling it against the country’s laws.

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