ISLAMABAD: During Monday’s hearing in the Reko Diq case, Balochistan’s Advocate-General Amanullah Kanrani said the provincial governor had signed the agreement without the Balochistan cabinet’s approval, DawnNews reported.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was hearing the case constituting of identical petitions filed against the federal government’s decision to lease out gold and copper mines in Reko Diq in Balochistan’s Chaghai district to foreign companies.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Iftikhar directed the Balochistan government to provide evidence with respect to its stance, adding that, whosoever had violated the law would have to pay for the wrongdoing.

Moreover, Kanrani today concluded his arguments in the case.

Kanrani said the law did not allow the awarding of mining lease to the TCC.

The chief justice reprimanded the advocate general saying Kanrani had been reviewing documents for the past three days and that he should not waste time unnecessarily by shifting responsibility upon the courts.

Kanrani told the bench that Balochistan’s governor had signed the agreement without the provincial cabinet’s approval.

He added that Barrick Gold and Antofagasta Minerals became part of the agreement without a real reason.

Kanrani said Barrick Gold bought the file of the agreement in 60 million dollars whereas Antofagasta Minerals paid 140 million dollars for the agreement’s file.

Moreover, Ahmer Bilal Sufi, counsel for the Balochistan government, began his arguments.

Soofi told the bench that land had not been specifically allotted in the Reko Diq agreement.

Responding to which, Justice Gulzar inquired whether Soofi was claiming that the agreement was bogus.

In his remarks, Chief Justice Iftikhar said the agreement, in its spirit, did not ratify a mining license but simply agreed to the filing of a request for that purpose.