The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that awarding a higher punishment under provincial law in the presence of a federal law is unconstitutional.
A detailed four-page written judgement authored by Justice Hashim Kakar was issued on Thursday.
According to the judgement, the Supreme Court declared the punishment awarded under the provincial law null and void and significantly reduced the sentence of the petitioner.
Sajid Khan had been sentenced to 10 years in prison under the provincial law by the Peshawar High Court, while under the federal law he was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs100,000.
The judgement noted that the FIR in the case was registered under the Control of Narcotics Act 1997. It further observed that both the trial court and the appellate court had awarded a more severe punishment under the provincial law of 2019.
The Supreme Court emphasized that under Article 143 of the Constitution, federal law has precedence over provincial law. The court concluded that the punishment given under the provincial law is not constitutionally valid.