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Our practices

Dispute resolution (Litigation & Arbitration)

Our Pakistan litigation and arbitration practice represents Fortune 500 corporations, leading Pakistani conglomerates and governmental agencies in their most consequential contentious matters before Pakistan’s superior courts up to the Federal Constitutional Court, statutory tribunals and international arbitral institutions, with decades of market-defining precedent across commercial, regulatory and cross-border disputes. Top-ranked by Chambers and The Legal 500.

Commercial litigation sits at the core of our Pakistan litigation and arbitration practice. We act on Pakistan’s most complex commercial, corporate and constitutional disputes, from judicial review of regulatory action, shareholder disputes, high-stakes energy sector disputes to constitutional challenges that reshape sectoral frameworks. Former partners of the firm have been appointed as justices of the Supreme Court and the High Courts of Pakistan — a clear measure of standing within the superior judiciary.

We act for Fortune 500 corporations, statutory regulators, listed Pakistani conglomerates and financial institutions in matters where the commercial stakes and the legal complexity are highest. Our landmark outcomes include the first reported judgment in Pakistan on derivative actions, the first decision across the High Courts on the jurisdiction of Constitutional Benches under the 26th Constitutional Amendment and precedent-setting decisions on jurisdiction under trans-provincial statutes. Our Pakistan litigation and arbitration team appears across the High Courts of Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad, the Supreme Court and the Federal Constitutional Court.

Key capabilities
  • High Court commercial and company litigation (Sindh, Lahore, Islamabad, Balochistan, Peshawar)
  • Supreme Court constitutional petitions and civil petitions for leave to appeal
  • Derivative actions, minority-shareholder oppression and corporate governance disputes
  • Anti-suit and anti-arbitration injunctions; freezing orders and asset preservation
  • Intellectual property litigation and trademark enforcement
  • Shareholder and joint venture disputes
  • Insurance and reinsurance disputes
  • Insolvency, winding-up and rescue proceedings
  • Class actions and representative proceedings
  • Expert witness and Pakistan-law-opinions to foreign courts and tribunals
Representative experience
  • Hashwani Hotels Limited: Successfully represented HHL and its key shareholders against minority shareholders claiming substantial shareholding and seeking to block share transfers on the basis of an alleged 1985 right of first refusal.
  • AKD Securities: Constitutional challenge before the High Court of Sindh on a contested PKR 14.4 billion takeover transaction concerning TRG Pakistan Limited (one of Pakistan’s most prominent listed venture-capital firms specialising in technology-enabled services). Establishing foundational jurisprudence on substantial-acquisition obligations under Pakistan’s takeover laws.
  • Clariant Pakistan Limited / Clariant AG — first derivative action judgment: Represented Clariant Pakistan and Clariant AG in the first reported judgment in Pakistan on derivative actions — proceedings brought by minority shareholders on behalf of a company against its directors. Also obtained judgment dismissing an ex parte injunction that had sought to restrain the sale of company assets by way of a reverse carve-out for the purposes of a major cross-border M&A transaction.
  • Attock Cement & DG Khan Cement — 26th Constitutional Amendment landmark: Representing two of Pakistan’s largest cement manufacturers in a constitutional challenge to an unconstitutional electricity surcharge. The first case across all High Courts to address the 26th Constitutional Amendment’s establishment of Constitutional Benches. In a landmark judgment, the Chief Justice’s bench adopted our submissions on the limits of the amendment, retaining jurisdiction.
  • Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company: Defending the Thar coal-mining project against environmental and land-acquisition constitutional challenges before the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad Bench (USD 2bn project value).
  • Chevron Pakistan Lubricants — Trans-provincial Trade Union Registrar : Obtained a landmark judgment from the Islamabad High Court holding that the Registrar of Trade Unions has no jurisdiction to register industry-wide unions in trans-provincial establishments: a ground-breaking decision on the constitutional jurisdiction of the federal Registrar following the 18th Amendment to the Constitution.
  • Hub Power Company (Hubco): Sindh High Court challenge to the set-off of PKR 11.5 billion from receivables under the Power Purchase Agreement by the Central Power Purchasing Agency (Guarantee) Limited.
  • Samsonite Group entities: Multi-forum trademark and IP enforcement across the Supreme Court, Sindh High Court, Lahore High Court, IP Tribunal and Civil Court — landmark dispute over the SAMSONITE and AMERICAN TOURISTER trademarks following termination of the local distributor.
  • English Biscuit Manufacturers: Acting for the majority shareholders of Pakistan’s largest biscuit manufacturer in litigation brought by foreign minority shareholder Associated Biscuits International Limited.
  • Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology: Successfully contested ex parte injunctions and litigation following termination of an exclusive distribution agreement — represented the world’s largest CCTV manufacturer.
  • Impregilo SpA: ED Zublin, Infinity Global, represented client in various litigation matters ranging from contractual disputes, sale of goods, and taxation to local administration laws in the lower and higher courts of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Attock and Swabi.
  • Hisense Holdings Co. Ltd: Successfully contested an ex parte injunction obtained by a distributor claiming exclusivity and agency coupled with interest in subject matter — represented the global consumer-electronics group in Pakistan distribution-rights litigation.
  • IGCF SPV 21 / K-Electric — Cayman expert witness: Defended a Cayman Islands ownership-change transaction relating to K-Electric Limited against a constitutional challenge before the High Court of Sindh. Managing Partner served as Pakistan-law expert witness before the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands; Justice Segal commended the testimony as “clear and cogent.” Court granted anti-suit injunction restraining Sindh High Court proceedings.
  • Triconboston Consulting (Sapphire wind-power JV): Successfully litigated a major land dispute on behalf of Triconboston Consulting (a Sapphire Group subsidiary established to develop, own and operate three 50MW wind-power projects in Sindh as an Independent Power Producer) concerning approximately 4,000 acres of land leased from the Government of Sindh for the project.
  • Pakistan Tobacco Company: Constitutional petition before the Peshawar High Court challenging the Tobacco Development Cess imposed on tobacco purchased above the quota fixed by the Pakistan Tobacco Board — sectoral first.
  • FABER Industries S.P.A: successfully represented a leading Italian company and manufacturer of gas cylinders in a case involving wide ranging and complex issues including OGRA’s jurisdictional capacity.
  • Pakistan Chemists and Druggists Association: Long-running representation of the only representative body of Pakistan’s chemists and druggists (a six-decade-old association) in constitutional litigation challenging multiple DRAP enactments — including the Medical Devices Rules and Drug Enlistment Rules — with industry-wide effects.
  • EFU General Insurance / Engro Fertilizers: Represented EFU as lead insurer in a USD 23.45 million insurance coverage dispute concerning leaks in a waste heat recovery system at Engro’s ammonia urea complex. Reinsurance involvement with American International Group.
  • Searle IV Solutions: represented client, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of Pakistan manufacturing lifesaving IV solutions, in a suit relating to whether an S.R.O granting a tax exemption applied to the material imported by Searle.
  • United Energy Pakistan: Advising Pakistan’s largest foreign E&P company and its JV partners (including Pakistan Petroleum Limited) on challenging OGRA directives to gas distributors to withhold 25% of payments to E&P companies pending gas price notification.

RIAA Barker Gillette acts as counsel in international and domestic arbitrations for multinational corporations, major infrastructure investors, leading Pakistani conglomerates and governmental agencies. Our experience spans the construction, energy, oil and gas, insurance, commodities, shipping, telecommunications and investor-state sectors, and includes arbitrations under the LCIA, ICC, ICSID, SIAC and DIFC-LCIA rules, expert determinations, FIDIC dispute-board proceedings and proceedings under the Pakistan Arbitration Act 1940 and the Recognition and Enforcement (Arbitration Agreements and Foreign Arbitral Awards) Act 2011 — Pakistan’s New York Convention statute.

Our arbitration-adjacent litigation practice has defended LCIA awards against the Government of Pakistan under sovereign guarantees, secured Pakistan’s first reported enforcement of a New York Convention award, and routinely obtains enforcement against state-owned counterparties, stay of court proceedings to protect parties’ rights to arbitrate and injunctions in support of arbitration. We give Pakistan-law expert evidence to foreign courts and tribunals — including the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands and the High Court in London — and work in close collaboration with leading international arbitration firms.

Key capabilities
  • Arbitration under ICC, LCIA, ICSID, SIAC, DIFC-LCIA and DIAC rules
  • Investor-state arbitration (BIT claims, ICSID, UNCITRAL/PCA)
  • Domestic arbitration (Pakistan Arbitration Act 1940, Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards Act 2011)
  • FIDIC Dispute Adjudication Boards and Dispute Avoidance/Adjudication Boards (DAABs)
  • Expert determination (under JOAs, PPAs and other complex contracts)
  • Pakistan-law expert opinions for foreign-seat arbitrations
  • Anti-suit and anti-arbitration injunctions in Pakistan courts in support of arbitration
  • Recognition, enforcement and challenge of arbitral awards before Pakistan High Courts
  • Arbitration of construction, energy, oil and gas, insurance and commodity disputes
  • Drafting and reviewing arbitration agreements; advice on seat, governing law and forum selection
  • Section 4 referral applications and jurisdictional challenges (including non-signatory compulsion, contradictory clauses, arbitrability)
Representative experience

International arbitration

  • Star Hydro Power Limited — LCIA arbitrations against NTDC and the Government of Pakistan: Pakistan-law counsel in a series of LCIA arbitrations brought by the operator of a 147MW hydropower project in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Claims include USD 94 million, USD 420 million, USD 25 million sovereign-guarantee enforcement, plus PKR 2.487 billion delay-damages, PKR 2.019 billion liquidated-damages enforcement, and PKR 19.6 billion tariff-payment recovery.
  • Gul Ahmed Energy v K-Electric — ICC PPA dispute: ICC arbitration arising from a PKR 1.2 billion Power Purchase Agreement dispute. Also successfully represented in expert determination before Mr. Justice (r) Ajmal Mian, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
  • Petroleum Exploration (Pvt) Limited: Representing one of Pakistan’s largest private-sector E&P companies in Singapore-seated ICC arbitration concerning alleged breaches of a Pakistan-law-governed Joint Operating Agreement with the Government of Pakistan. Successfully obtained rare negative jurisdiction award.
  • IM Technologies (Pvt) Limited: SIAC arbitration against Karachi Development Company — award of USD 33.5 million for breach of contract on a high-rise IT complex.
  • Ghazi-Barotha Contractor JV: Principal Pakistan legal counsel for contractor JV in USD 500 million ICC arbitration arising from the construction of hydroelectric power facilities at the Ghazi-Barotha Dam — one of the largest arbitration claims in Pakistan’s history.
  • Progas Energy Limited: Pakistan-law counsel in investor-state arbitration under the Pakistan-Mauritius BIT, conducted under UNCITRAL rules at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, on USD 400 million claims for alleged expropriation of LPG infrastructure at Port Qasim.
  • Impregilo SpA: Lead Pakistan counsel in ICSID arbitration initiated against the Government of Pakistan for the settlement of investment disputes — Pakistan’s first ICSID matter in this sector.
  • Major Pakistani distillery — ICC London arbitration: Represented one of Pakistan’s leading distilleries in arbitration conducted in London under ICC Rules against a manufacturer and supplier of plant and equipment.

Domestic arbitration

  • Tractebel Engineering GMBH (Diamer Basha Consultants Joint Venture): Defended an international engineering consultancy as part of the Diamer Basha Consultants Joint Venture in WAPDA arbitration claims totalling PKR 8.845 billion (approximately USD 31 million) concerning the design and planning of the Diamer Bhasha dam project.
  • Civil Aviation Authority: Lead Pakistan legal counsel for the CAA — Pakistan’s aviation regulator and operator of all of the country’s major airports — in domestic arbitration proceedings against the contractor (PKR 10.7 billion+ in claims) covering numerous disputes under the construction contract for Pakistan’s largest greenfield airport.
  • IJM Berhad: Domestic arbitration proceedings before Justice (r) Saiduzzaman Siddiqui (former Chief Justice of Pakistan) against the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation for breach of an elevated-expressway construction contract — award of USD 35 million plus interest.
  • WAPDA: Successfully represented the Water and Power Development Authority before the FIDIC Dispute Board on a PKR 10 billion+ construction dispute concerning the Greater Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme.
  • Sindh Barrages Improvement Program: World Bank-funded program implementation unit (Irrigation Department, Government of Sindh); secured a binding favourable DAAB decision on against the China Road & Bridge Corporation – Hubei Shuizong JV under the FIDIC 2017 Red Book on price-adjustment correction-factor mechanics, saving USD 3.8 million immediately and estimated USD 20 million over the life of the project.
  • Sinohydro Corporation: Long-standing representation of one of the world’s leading construction conglomerates in pre-arbitral dispute resolution procedures provided in the FIDIC form of international construction contracts.
  • Dewan Petroleum — expert determinations under JOAs: Multiple expert determination and litigation proceedings protecting the operator’s rights under joint operating agreements in Pakistan’s upstream petroleum sector. Claims valued in the multimillions of dollars.
  • Adamjee Insurance Company: Represented the consortium of insurance companies in arbitration on one of the largest crude-oil insurance claims in Pakistan; settlement successfully negotiated. Separate proceedings included opposing an ICC application under Section 20 of the Arbitration Act 1940 in respect of an insurance policy issued to a major power station.

Arbitration adjacent litigation and expert witness on Pakistan law

  • Pakistan State Oil Company: Pakistan’s first reported judgment recognising and enforcing a foreign arbitral award under the Recognition and Enforcement (Arbitration Agreements and Foreign Arbitral Awards) Act 2011 — landmark precedent.
  • Cargill International Trading Pte Ltd: Pakistan-law counsel in SIAC arbitration concerning a Pakistani buyer’s breach of an international hot-rolled-steel commodity sale contract and obtained recognition before the Lahore High Court, which restrained alienation of fixed assets pending execution.
  • Pakistan Airports Authority: Appellate counsel before the Islamabad High Court defending an arbitration award (issued by a former Chief Justice of Pakistan as arbitrator) in a multimillion-PKR construction dispute set aside by the Additional District Judge.
  • Gunvor International BV: Representing the major global commodity trader in multiple disputes with Pakistan LNG Limited and PSO under long-term LNG supply contracts. Contested ex parte injunctions restraining USD 30 million standby letter of credit encashment. Expert witness statement on Pakistan law supporting anti-suit injunction proceedings before the High Court in London. PSO compelled to withdraw Pakistan proceedings and arbitrate in London. Obtained interim relief in Pakistan pending international arbitration.
  • IGCF SPV 21 / K-Electric: Managing Partner served as Pakistan-law expert witness before the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. Justice Segal commended testimony as “clear and cogent.” Court granted anti-suit injunction restraining Sindh High Court proceedings.
  • Star Hydro Power Limited — English Court of Appeal anti-suit injunction (USD 90 million): Provided Pakistan-law expertise supporting the May 2025 Court of Appeal anti-suit injunction restraining NTDC from pursuing parallel Lahore High Court proceedings designed to frustrate enforcement of the LCIA award.
  • Lotte Confectionary: Application to stay a USD 47.6 million civil suit and refer the parties to ICC arbitration in Singapore. Tests the mandatory nature of section 4 of the 2011 Act and the scope of arbitration clauses over tortious claims.
  • Dunkin’ Donuts Franchising LLC — section 4 stay and parallel IP enforcement (USD 20 million). Stay of co-defendants’ civil suit and reference to foreign-seated arbitration secured in parallel with offensive contempt and IP enforcement before the Lahore IP Tribunal.
  • Zahra Communications — award enforcement against the National Telecommunication Corporation. Defended a Pakistan Arbitration Act 1940 award against omnibus objections in the Sindh High Court. Award upheld September 2024; full recovery secured August 2025.

Our Pakistan litigation and arbitration practice acts in some of the country’s most contested regulatory, tax and white-collar matters. We defend clients in proceedings before Pakistan’s principal economic regulators — including NEPRA, OGRA, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, the Competition Commission of Pakistan and the National Tariff Commission — and before statutory appellate tribunals. Our contentious tax practice runs from Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue appeals to constitutional challenges before the High Courts and the Federal Constitutional Court. Our white-collar defence practice covers Federal Investigation Agency and National Accountability Bureau proceedings, Federal Board of Revenue criminal tax prosecutions and competition investigations.

The unifying thread is defending clients against state action — whether that is a NEPRA tariff determination, an FBR demand, a CCP investigation or an FIA criminal proceeding. Our extensive tax-disputes work is presented in detail on our Tax practice page, while our trade remedies work is presented in more detail on our International Trade and Trade Remedies practice page.

Key capabilities
  • Constitutional petitions challenging regulatory and tax measures
  • NEPRA, NEPRA Appellate Tribunal, OGRA, PTA, SECP, DRAP and SBP enforcement defence
  • Tariff and licensing disputes before the High Courts and the Supreme Court
  • Competition Commission of Pakistan complaints, investigations and merger reviews
  • Trade-remedies disputes (anti-dumping, safeguards) before the National Tariff Commission and WTO
  • Power-sector disputes — PPA, IA, sovereign guarantees, GoP indemnities
  • Telecommunications regulatory and spectrum disputes (PTA, FAB, NTC)
  • Securities and capital-markets enforcement disputes (SECP)
  • Pharmaceutical and healthcare regulatory disputes (DRAP, provincial drug authorities)
  • White-collar criminal defence — FIA, NAB, FBR criminal tax and customs criminal proceedings
  • Director and officer liability defence in regulatory and criminal contexts
  • Internal investigations and corporate-counsel guidance during regulatory or criminal proceedings
  • Dawn-raid and search-and-seizure response
Representative experience – regulatory and tax disputes

Tax disputes

  • Global tech giant — tax treaty litigation: Precedent-setting litigation challenging the imposition of income tax on digital services revenue under the Pakistan-Singapore and Pakistan-Netherlands Double Taxation Agreements.
  • Chevron Lubricants Holding Pte Ltd — super tax treaty dispute: Representing Chevron before the Federal Constitutional Court in a constitutional dispute on whether “Super Tax” overrides tax caps in the Pakistan-Singapore DTA. Secured a favourable Sindh High Court judgment declaring the demand illegal; FBR appeal to Federal Constitutional Court pending.
  • Arif Habib Corporation Limited — Workers’ Welfare Fund: seminal litigation before Supreme Court which it was held that levies under the Workers’ Welfare Fund were not in the nature of a tax — landmark judgment resolving conflicting decisions of the Sindh High Court and the Lahore High Court.
  • B.L. Harbert International (Pvt) Limited: proceedings challenging tax assessments of PKR 30 billion under anti-avoidance provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 seeking to impute to the client alleged income of its US foreign parent company. Issues of first impression.
  • KCA Deutag Drilling GmbH: Successful representation in landmark proceedings before the Islamabad High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan, confirming that a company providing drilling services was entitled to depreciation allowance under rule 8(5)(j) of the Third Schedule of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1979 even if not itself engaged in oil and gas exploration.
  • Murree Brewery Co. Ltd: Successful representation in proceedings before the High Court of Sindh challenging the Customs valuation of imported packaging materials.
  • Hub Power Services Limited: Successfully challenged before the High Court of Sindh a demand notice issued by Inland Revenue seeking to recover the alleged tax liability of a third party (International Power Global Development Limited) from HPSL and Hubco.

Regulatory disputes (telecoms, competition, oil and gas and anti-dumping)

  • Pakistan Telecommunication Authority — China Mobile (Zong): Acting for the PTA in a long-standing spectrum auction related with China Mobile Pakistan Limited (Zong).
  • Pakistan Petroleum Limited — Petroleum Policy 2012 gas-incentive litigation: Constitutional challenge before the High Courts to the post-policy withdrawal of enhanced-production gas-pricing incentives.
  • Telenor Pakistan: Defended Telenor against a CCP show-cause notice on its “best test” media advertisement campaign — landmark CCP enforcement-defence matter.
  • A Fortune 500 Japanese trading and investment conglomerate: Strategic advisory on the CCP’s “information-exchange” investigation in the steel sector, involving digital forensic readiness, privilege limits under the Qanun-e-Shahadat, and first-of-its-kind enforcement positions.
  • Chevron Pakistan Lubricants: CCP complaint against Hi-Tech Lubricants for deceptive marketing practices.
  • PFB (Private) Limited: Interim injunction from the Sindh High Court restraining the State Bank of Pakistan from recovering a PKR 72 million penalty levied under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 on grounds of lack of due process, justifying an exception to the section 26 ouster clause.
  • Lotte Chemical Pakistan: Successfully secured 9.50% anti-dumping duty on imports of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) from China through an NTC application.
  • Sectoral trade-remedies challenges (PYMA, APPMA, Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and others): Acting for industry associations in trade-remedies challenges before the National Tariff Commission, the High Courts and the WTO across multiple commodity sectors including cold-rolled coils, BOPP film, paper, and PVC resin.
  • Taghleef Industries LLC — WTO anti-dumping challenge: Proceedings before the World Trade Organization challenging anti-dumping measures adopted by Pakistan on imports of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film.
  • Grant Thornton Anjum Rahman: Defended the firm in serial parallel proceedings filed by an expelled partner; secured set-aside of an injunction obtained by abuse of process in a judgment that develops Pakistan law on stay-orders procured by concealment. Parallel complaints to the Sindh Bar Council and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan.

Regulatory disputes (power sector)

  • NEPRA — Industrial-consumers tariff challenge against IESCO determination: Acting for NEPRA in defending a constitutional challenge by an association of steel mills, rice mills and other industrial consumers to a NEPRA determination on Islamabad Electric Supply Company’s (IESCO) interim consumer-end tariff.
  • Sitara Energy v FESCO: Won a 7-year landmark appeal restoring the IPP’s contractual claims against the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company.
  • Sindh Nooriabad Power Company: PKR 2.32 billion litigation arising out of a pioneering public-private partnership 2x50MW thermal power project with the Government of Sindh holding 49% equity — landmark provincial-level PPP dispute.
  • Siddiqsons Energy Limited: PKR 5.6 billion litigation concerning the 330MW thermal-power Letter of Support and the Government of Pakistan’s obligations following project sponsor design changes.
  • Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited: High-stakes PKR 118 million PPA dispute against K-Electric — exceptionally significant for setting precedent on PPA termination, force majeure and tariff calculation.
  • National Transmission and Despatch Commission (NTDC) — wheeling-charges litigation: PKR 5 billion challenge to NEPRA’s decision disregarding wheeling-charge components — material revenue impact for the public-sector distribution companies.
  • Central Power Purchasing Agency (Guarantee) Limited: PKR 16 billion regulatory challenge concerning pre-NEPRA-Act projects directed by NEPRA to seek dispute resolution from GoP.
Representative experience – white collar defence
  • Pakistan Petroleum Limited — FIA white-collar defence: Representing senior PPL officials including the Managing Director and the General Manager in proceedings initiated by the Federal Investigation Agency (Pakistan’s principal white-collar criminal investigation agency). USD 43 million plus PKR 127 million stakes.
  • Millat Industrial Products — FBR criminal tax-fraud defence: Defending MIPL (part of the Millat Group, Pakistan’s leading agricultural-tractor manufacturer), its CEO and non-executive directors before the Special Judge (Customs & Taxation), Karachi, against FBR fake-invoice allegations. Obtained bail and quashment of proceedings.
  • Karachi International Container Terminal — customs smuggling defence: Defended KICT (Hutchison Ports subsidiary) against allegations arising from a 2019 incident where individuals were apprehended attempting to smuggle a confiscated container of betel nuts. PKR 150 million stakes. Successfully resolved in client’s favour
  • Syed Ali Haider Zaidi — Joint Investigation Team defence: Pre-arrest bail and JIT-investigation defence in three high-profile JITs (including the Mr. Uzair Baloch / People’s Aman Committee investigation and the Baldia Factory Fire investigation).
  • Syngenta Pakistan — FIR defence on agricultural-product allegations: Successfully obtained pre-arrest bail for all employees of Syngenta Pakistan in two FIRs lodged by Sindh Agriculture Department officers alleging stocking and sale of expired/sub-standard products.

Our Pakistan litigation and arbitration practice acts in some of the country’s most consequential admiralty and shipping cases. Karachi is Pakistan’s principal admiralty forum, and the Sindh High Court’s admiralty jurisdiction is the centre of gravity for ship arrest, cargo, charter, demurrage, stevedoring, port-concession and force-majeure disputes arising from the Indian Ocean trade. Our Pakistan litigation and arbitration team acts in vessel arrest applications before the Sindh High Court Admiralty Bench, in commodity-sale enforcement at sea, freight, charter and demurrage disputes, port and stevedoring claims and port concession disputes — combining admiralty-court advocacy with parallel international-arbitration capability for charter-party and commodities mandates.

Key capabilities
  • Ship arrest, release and security applications (Sindh High Court Admiralty)
  • Cargo claims, freight, demurrage and contracts of carriage
  • Charterparty, bills of lading and international commodity sales
  • Port, stevedoring and terminal operator disputes
  • Maritime insurance and reinsurance disputes
  • War-risk and force majeure (post-Strait of Hormuz crisis)
  • Pollution, salvage, wreck removal and maritime regulatory disputes
  • Pakistan-law expert opinion services to foreign maritime tribunals and courts
Representative experience
  • M/V Lady Ileen — Sindh High Court vessel release (2026): Pakistan-law counsel in the release of M/V Lady Ileen, a Palau-flagged bulk carrier arrested at Karachi since March 2026 — a leading admiralty matter against the backdrop of the Strait of Hormuz crisis.
  • Attock Cement Pakistan Limited: Sindh High Court civil proceedings detaining coal cargo aboard a vessel on grounds of breach of contract of sale with a Cyprus-based supplier.
  • Prime Star Energy FZE (Dubai): Secured release in Sindh High Court admiralty proceedings of MT Everrich 6 which was arrested in relation to a dispute on LPG cargo.
  • South Asia Pakistan Terminals (SAPT): Acting for Pakistan’s largest container terminal in a USD 2 million dispute with Karachi Port Trust under concession agreement.
  • Attock Cement Pakistan and 23 other importer/exporter companies — Ministry of Maritime Affairs berthing-priority challenge: Sindh High Court constitutional challenge to MoMA’s decision prioritising the berthing of vessels carrying wheat and sugar at the Port of Karachi and Port Qasim — landmark precedent on port-prioritisation administrative law.
  • Edible-oil consortium / Port Qasim axle-load case — Acted for two-dozen-plus leading edible-oil manufacturers (including Dalda Foods Limited) challenging Port Qasim Authority’s enforcement of National Highway Safety Ordinance, 2000 axle-load limits within port premises — a measure that would have required the country’s trucking fleet to double overnight. Increased transport and shipping costs estimated at PKR 100 million per vessel discharged.
  • Stevedoring rights at Port Qasim — Representing a stevedoring concessionaire against Fauji Akbar Portia Marine Terminals Limited (FAP) and Port Qasim Authority on FAP’s claimed exclusivity over dry-bulk handling at berths outside FAP’s terminal. First-impression issues on third-party rights to contractual relations and on conflicting concession contracts under PQA’s statutory framework.
  • Mercantile & Maritime Trading Pte Limited: Advising the Singapore-incorporated commodity-trading entity on a multi-jurisdictional dispute (USD 15m) with a Pakistani company over an international commodity-sale contract.
Dispute resolution (Litigation & Arbitration) news and insights

The representative experience listed above is a small selection of our Pakistan litigation and arbitration matters. To discuss a dispute, contact one of our lead Pakistan litigation and arbitration partners, Yousaf Khosa, Mayhar Kazi, Nadir Altaf or Shahbakht Pirzada today.

RIAA Barker Gillette is Pakistan’s premier law firm, with an on-the-ground presence in three major cities in Pakistan: Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore, and affiliated offices in Dubai (DIFC) and London. 

The firm practices in all areas of corporate, commercial and dispute resolution law. Leading international legal directories consistently recognise the firm as a top-tier law firm in Pakistan.

Lex Mundi member firm — RIAA Barker Gillette Pakistan litigation and arbitration practice

RIAA Barker Gillette is the exclusive member firm in Pakistan for Lex Mundi, the world’s leading network of independent law firms with in-depth experience in over 125 countries worldwide.

News/Insight

  • Coal Supply Safeguarded in High-Stakes Pakistan Energy Dispute

    RIAA Barker Gillette has secured the suspension of an injunction that threatened to disrupt coal offloading for Huaneng Shandong Ruyi (Pakistan) Energy, a 1320 MW imported coal-fired power plant central to Pakistan's generation mix. The appellate court's decision restored operational flexibility in a complex Pakistan energy dispute spanning multiple agreements, a foreign-seated arb...


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  • E-Commerce Advisory on Customs Valuation in Pakistan

    RIAA Barker Gillette recently advised one of the world’s fastest-growing international e-commerce platforms on customs valuation in Pakistan and import compliance. The engagement addressed the platform’s expanding operations in Pakistan amid evolving regulatory requirements for cross-border digital commerce.


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  • RIAA defeats ship arrest of M/V Lady Ileen amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis

    The Strait of Hormuz crisis has produced a new wave of shipping disputes — diverted voyages, stranded cargoes, war-risk invocations — with Pakistan's admiralty courts at Karachi emerging as a key forum. Against that backdrop, last week the Sindh High Court released M/V Lady Ileen, a Palau-flagged bulk carrier arrested at Karachi since March 2026. The Court acted on a jurisd...


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  • PTA Anti-Dumping Duties: RIAA Barker Gillette Secures 9.50%

    In July 2025, RIAA Barker Gillette filed an application on behalf of Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited (LCPL) before the National Tariff Commission (the Commission), seeking anti-dumping duties on imports of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) from China. T...


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  • Constitutional Challenge to NEPRA Prosumer Regulations

    RIAA Barker Gillette has filed a constitutional petition before the Islamabad High Court challenging the NEPRA Prosumer Regulations 2026. The regulations replaced Pakistan's decade-old net metering regime with a n...


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