Salman Aslam Butt

Salman Aslam Butt is a Senior Partner at Cornelius, Lane & Mufti in Pakistan, specialising in corporate law, constitutional and commercial litigation, banking and finance law, and mergers and acquisitions. He is a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and served as the Attorney General for Pakistan from January 2014 to March 2016, where he represented the Government of Pakistan in landmark constitutional and fiscal matters, including the successful defence of the 21st Constitutional Amendment and the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess before the Supreme Court, and represented the Government in several international arbitrations.

Salman Aslam Butt has advised on the implementation agreement and financing for an LPG extraction plant at Jamshoro, Sindh; represented Caterpillar Inc. in high-profile litigations relating to the oil and gas sector and Pakistan Railways; and represented leading fertilizer manufacturers in litigations relating to natural gas allocation policies before the High Courts and the Supreme Court. He has structured and handled the largest transaction in Pakistan pertaining to the transference of shareholding and the first public term finance certificate issue, and advised on the restructuring of a major group defaulter. As Attorney General, he represented Pakistan before ICSID Tribunals (Karkey Arbitration, Reko Diq Arbitration, ProGas Arbitration) and appeared before the Supreme Court in landmark cases including the 18th and 21st Constitutional Amendments, the seniority of judges case, and matters relating to the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960.

Salman Aslam Butt holds an LL.B from the University of Punjab and an LL.M from the University of London. He has been recommended as a leading individual for Banking & Finance, Capital Markets, Corporate/M&A, Dispute Resolution and Real Estate by Asia Pacific Legal 500, and for Corporate & Commercial and Dispute Resolution by Chambers Asia and Chambers Global. He was a Visiting Law Lecturer at the University of Punjab (1985–1988).