ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled that federal legislation takes precedence over conflicting provincial laws, overturning a harsher sentence imposed under a provincial drug law and reaffirming constitutional limits on provincial authority.
A two-member bench led by Justice Muhammad Hasham Kakar held that the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, supersedes the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Control of Narcotics Substances Act, 2019, in instances of conflicting provisions.
The ruling underscores Article 143 of the Constitution, which establishes federal supremacy where provincial and federal laws occupy the same legal domain.
The decision arose from a case in which the petitioner was caught by Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) officials with one kilogram of methamphetamine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Initially convicted under the provincial law, the petitioner faced 10 years rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 0.5 million, but the Peshawar High Court upheld the sentence.
The Supreme Court observed that the federal law prescribes a lighter sentence for the same quantity — imprisonment ranging from five to seven years with a fine up to Rs. 800,000 — compared to the provincial law’s more punitive mandate. The court held that the trial and appellate courts erred by applying the provincial statute instead of the federal law.
As a result, the Supreme Court set aside the provincial conviction and recalibrated the sentence according to the federal statute, reinforcing that provincial laws cannot impose harsher penalties than conflict with valid federal legislation.
Legal experts say the ruling has wider implications for Pakistan’s federal system, particularly in areas like narcotics, taxation, and criminal law, where provincial legislation sometimes attempts to enforce stricter penalties than federal statutes.
By emphasizing constitutional supremacy, the Supreme Court has provided a clear precedent for harmonizing federal and provincial laws and preventing legal inconsistencies.
The judgment also reflects the court’s effort to ensure proportional sentencing while respecting federal legislative authority — a move that could influence future cases involving narcotics and other controlled substances across the country.
