Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohamamd Chaudhry said on Tuesday that Article 5 of the Constitution should be considered while entering into an agreement with foreign companies and that no company, foreign or local, was above the Constitution.
According to a private television channel, a three-member bench of the apex court led by Chief Justice Iftikhar resumed the hearing over the Reko Diq case.
During the hearing Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry gave his remarks that according to Article 5 of the Constitution the law was applicable to everyone inside Pakistan, and that there is no requirement of citizenship for the law to apply.
Chaudhry further said that the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) contract was cancelled as it was against the law and that the same law applied to the Reko Diq agreement.
The Chief Justice wondered how could the government of Balochistan object to the concessions in the Reko Diq contract which were granted by the government itself adding that the Balochistan government should make amend to its own mistakes rather than pass on the onus to the court.
Counsel for the Balochistan government, Ahmer Bilal Sufi informed the court that the concessions granted were against the law and the flaw came into light upon review of the records.
Justice Iftikhar responded and said that concessions aside, a contract has no legal status if it is not in accordance with the law.
The chief justice further said that any amendment made would have to be according to the law and that the Contract Act allows for limited amendments to be made in case of a mistake in an agreement.
Local, foreign companies not above Constitution, says CJ
