FRONTIER HOLDINGS LIMITED through Chief Executive, Islamabad vs PETROLEUM EXPLORATION PVT

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FRONTIER HOLDINGS LIMITED through Chief Executive, Islamabad VS PETROLEUM EXPLORATION PVT. LIMITED through Chief Executive Officer, Islamabad S. 6---Constitution of Pakistan, Art. 185(3)---Foreign arbitral award---Sanctity and enforcement---Granting of interim relief by the High Court in aid of enforcement of arbitral award---Contentions raised by counsel for petitioners were that courts were empowered to pass interim measures in order to protect the integrity and efficacy of the enforcement process; that dispute between the parties was referred to arbitration under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) London; that partial foreign arbitral award was rendered followed by a separate award on costs; that awards were filed before the High Court for enforcement under the Recognition and Enforcement (Arbitration Agreements and Foreign Arbitral Awards) Act, 2011; that during the pendency of enforcement proceedings of the same, Single Judge granted interim relief restraining the respondents from assigning, transferring, or encumbering their interest in the 'Badin fields' which interim order was challenged through Intra Court Appeal, whereby, Division Bench of High Court suspended the interim relief, which order was then challenged before the Supreme Court; that Courts have been empowered to pass interim measures to protect the integrity and efficacy of the enforcement process; that denial of such protection would defeat the very purpose of the Act, 2011 and the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, 1958 (the "Convention"); that Courts must maintain a pro-enforcement bias while dealing with foreign arbitral awards; that such premature judicial intervention would send adverse signal to the international community, undermine arbitral sanctity, erode investor confidence and would undermine the country's international obligations; that a stable and enforcement-friendly legal environment is vital for encouraging foreign direct investment; that foreign arbitral awards should not be treated as ordinary civil decrees, rather, they possess a binding character under international law, to which Pakistan has expressly committed itself---Supreme Court granted leave to consider the contentions raised by the Counsel for Petitioners---Supreme Court suspended the operation of the impugned order of Division Bench of the High Court in order to be consistent with the pro-enforcement bias maintained by the Supreme Court as well as the mandate of the Act 2011, the Convention and the settled jurisprudence of the Supreme Court.

FRONTIER HOLDINGS LIMITED through Chief Executive, Islamabad vs PETROLEUM EXPLORATION PVT — 2025 CLD 1810 SUPREME-COURT

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