ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court (SC), during the proceedings of Reko Diq on Wednesday, observed that all the illegal activities happened when the Assemblies were non-functional in the country. Tariq Asad, a petitioner, informed the apex court that amendments in 1993's Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) between BHP and Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) for the exploration of minerals at Reko Diq were made in March 2000, when a dictator ruled the country. Upon it, Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman remarked that, "All illegal things happen when the Assemblies were non-functional in the country." He said first the amendments were made in JVA in March 2000 and then Balochistan the Mineral Rules were changed in 2002 before the assemblies came into existence. A four-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Mohammad Sair Ali, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, was hearing constitutional petitions of Muhammad Tariq Asad, Watan Party, Maulana Abdul Haque Baloch and others versus Federal Government through Federal Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Islamabad, and others, Government of Balochistan through Secretary Industries and others. The petitioners have challenged awarding the contract to Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) - a Canadian consortium of Barrick Gold and Antofagasta Minerals - to explore gold and copper in Reko Diq, a small desert town in Chagai district of Balochistan. Tariq Asad said the BHP and BDA were the two main parties agreed to amend the JVA. But Justice Sair Ali questioned if it was right to amend the agreement, which was against the law of land. The petitioner also informed the court that the then Balochistan Governor had directed the BDA to do this. The Chief Justice observed that the BDA was a statutory body and it had its own board of directors then how it could become agent of the governor. He said the provincial governments did perform all the administrative functions in the name of governors in their respective provinces. Justice Ramday said, "If the Balochistan government was not vigilant, for any reason, to safeguard its interests then we could not blame others." He observed that agreement 2006 with TCC was signed under the new mineral rules of Balochistan 2002. The Chief Justice asked Advocate General, Balochistan, Salahuddin Mengal to provide information as to how the governor had made BDA agent and what was the stand of BDA. Asad Tariq also expressed concerns over allowing the TCC to construct airstrip at Reko Diq. He said it should not be permitted in view of the security of the country. He, however, completed his arguments. Barrister Zafarullah would argue in the case from today (Thursday).