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| May 22, 2002 | Wednesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 8,1423 |
Judgment on SGS appeal reserved
ISLAMABAD, May 21: The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its judgment on the appeal of a Swiss company, Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), seeking wrap up of arbitration proceedings in Pakistan.
A SC bench, comprising Justice Munir A. Sheikh, Justice Qazi Mohammad Farooq and Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, reserved its judgment after conducting proceedings for about five days.
The SGS approached the apex court against the order of a civil court of the appointment of an arbitrator to settle the dispute that arose after the termination of the contract. Justice (retd) Khalilur Rehman Khan has been appointed arbitrator by the civil judge.
After preliminary hearing, the apex court granted leave to appeal to consider three questions: i) whether the arbitration agreement between Pakistan and the SGS continued to remain valid after the Pak-Swiss treaty? ii) whether the SGS was an “investor” within the meaning of the Pak-Swiss treaty? iii) whether the SGS had waived its right to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes’ (ICSID) arbitration in view of its conduct in pursing its claims before th Swiss courts and filing a counter claim before the civil judge, Islamabad.
The Swiss company stated that it had approached the ICSID for getting compensation from the Pakistan government for the termination of the pre-shipment inspection contract, and demanded that the arbitration proceedings, initiated in Pakistan, be stopped.
The firm maintained that Pakistan and Switzerland had signed a bilateral investment treaty in May 1996, and any dispute arising out of any agreement would be decided by the ICSID, a forum provided in the investment treaty.
After the SC had set aside the judgment convicting Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari on the charges of getting commission from the SGS, the company filed a counter claim against the government in a Pakistani court.
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