Rossmere International Ltd. through Authorized Representative V. Sea Lion International Shipping Inc and 6 others,
PLD 2017 Balochistan 29 · Balochistan High Court
This case involved a company, Rossmere International, which had won a money award from a London arbitration tribunal against a shipping company (defendant No.1) and related "Fal Group" entities, after a failed vessel sale deal. Rossmere had already gotten this award recognized and turned into a decree by an English court. It then filed a fresh suit in the Balochistan High Court, seeking to enforce the same award in Pakistan, and additionally asked the court to attach and eventually sell another vessel, m.t. "ZETA" (renamed "MALIN"), which had since been sold to a different company, defendant No.7, and was reportedly beached in Balochistan.
The court rejected the plaint. It held that arbitration awards are enforceable only against parties who agreed to arbitrate, and defendant No.7 was never part of that arbitration or agreement. The vessel itself was never the subject matter of the original award, which was purely a money award. For enforcing a money award, the case should be filed where the defaulting party's bank account or assets are located, and none were found within the Balochistan High Court's jurisdiction. Since the vessel had already been sold before enforcement was attempted, it no longer belonged to the award debtor. The court also noted that since an English court had already recognized and decreed the award, it was for that court to enforce its own order, and a second enforcement suit elsewhere was not proper unless the first was shown unenforceable.
This ruling clarifies limits on cross-border enforcement of arbitral awards and protects third parties who were not part of the arbitration agreement.
یہ مقدمہ ایک کمپنی، راس میئر انٹرنیشنل سے متعلق تھا، جس نے لندن کے ثالثی ٹریبونل سے ایک شپنگ کمپنی (مدعا علیہ نمبر 1) اور اس سے وابستہ "فال گروپ" کے اداروں کے خلاف، ایک بحری جہاز کی فروخت کے معاہدے کی ناکامی کے بعد، رقم کا ایوارڈ حاصل کیا تھا۔ راس میئر پہلے ہی اس ایوارڈ کو ایک انگریز عدالت سے تسلیم کروا کر ڈگری میں تبدیل کروا چکی تھی۔ اس کے بعد اس نے بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ میں ایک نیا دعویٰ دائر کیا، جس میں پاکستان میں اسی ایوارڈ کے نفاذ کی استدعا کی گئی، اور مزید یہ کہ ایک اور بحری جہاز، ایم ٹی "زیٹا" (جس کا نام بدل کر "میلن" رکھا گیا تھا) کو ضبط اور بالآخر فروخت کرنے کی درخواست بھی کی گئی۔ یہ جہاز اس دوران ایک مختلف کمپنی، مدعا علیہ نمبر 7، کو فروخت ہو چکا تھا اور مبینہ طور پر بلوچستان میں ساحل پر پڑا ہوا تھا۔
عدالت نے دعویٰ مسترد کر دیا۔ اس نے قرار دیا کہ