406, 420, 489-F and 9C punishment in Pakistan

Key points

• Section 406, criminal breach of trust: up to seven years, or a fine, or both.
• Section 420, cheating: up to seven years, and a fine as well.
• Section 489-F, a dishonest cheque for a loan or an obligation that bounces: up to three years, or a fine, or both.
• 9C: since 6 September 2022 the punishment goes by the drug and its weight. Charas from 1,000 to 4,999 grams: nine to fourteen years; 10,000 grams or more: twenty years to life, and life under this Act means twenty-five years in jail.
• The date of the offence decides the table: "the newly inserted amendment made through the Act of 2022 could not be retrospectively applied and enforced" (Balochistan High Court, para 9).

406, 420, 489-F and 9C punishment in Pakistan: the short answer

They do not all mean seven years. Sections 406 and 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code each allow up to seven years. Section 489-F allows up to three years, or a fine, or both. And "9C", the name people use for a narcotics case, now means a table: since 6 September 2022 the punishment depends on the drug and its weight. Seven years is also a ceiling, not a fixed sentence: a court can give less.

People search this as dafa 420 kya hai, 406 ppc in urdu, 489 f ppc punishment in urdu, 9c case kya hota hai and 9c case punishment in pakistan. The answers for all four are on this page, with the law's own words checked in FAI Legal.

Section 406: criminal breach of trust

Section 405 of the Penal Code describes the offence: someone is entrusted with property, or with control over it, and dishonestly misappropriates it or converts it to his own use. Section 406 punishes it with imprisonment of up to seven years, or a fine, or both.

Whether an unpaid loan can be a case under 406 is a separate question: see our FAI Media pieces on criminal breach of trust and on a 406 FIR for a loan that was not returned.

Section 420: cheating

Section 415 defines cheating: deceiving a person and so fraudulently or dishonestly inducing them to deliver property. Section 420 punishes cheating that induces delivery of property with imprisonment of up to seven years, and the offender is also liable to a fine.

When a broken deal is only a civil dispute and when it is cheating is covered in our FAI Media piece on cheating under section 420.

Section 489-F: a cheque that bounces

Section 489-F covers a person who dishonestly issues a cheque towards repayment of a loan or fulfilment of an obligation, and the cheque is dishonoured on presentation. The punishment is imprisonment of up to three years, or a fine, or both. It is not an offence if he shows that he had made arrangements with his bank to ensure payment and that the bank was at fault.

Bail and the defence in a cheque bounce case have their own FAI Media pieces: cheque bounce punishment, bail in 489-F cases, and the three elements of the offence.

9C: the narcotics table since 6 September 2022

"9C case" is the name people use for a narcotics case, after clause (c) of the old section 9 of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997. The Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Act 2022, promulgated on 6 September 2022, replaced section 9 with a table: the punishment now depends on the substance and its quantity.

For charas, the High Court summarised the new band for 1,000 to 4,999 grams: "the imprisonment may extend to fourteen years and it shall not be less than nine years along with a fine, which may be up to Rs.400,000/- but not less than Rs.80,000/-." (para 9). For 10,000 grams or more, the table says the imprisonment may extend to life imprisonment but shall not be less than twenty years. Under section 9A(3), imprisonment for life under this Act means imprisonment in jail for twenty-five years.

Bail in a 9C case and the rules on keeping the samples safe have their own FAI Media pieces.

The case: Hub, June 2022

On 12 June 2022 police on patrol at Balochabad Hub stopped a man in the street who tried to run. In the polythene sack he was holding they found three packets of charas of 1,000 grams each, 3,000 grams in all (para 5).

The trial court, the Special Judge at Hub, decided the case on 26 September 2022. It convicted him and sentenced him to nine years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 80,000 (para 1), the new minimum for that weight under the table of 6 September 2022 (para 9).

We read it in FAI Legal

The judgment is on FAI Legal's Judgment Search, with every paragraph open in the judgment reader. The paragraphs quoted on this page are paras 1, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 12. Sections 405, 406, 415, 420 and 489-F of the Penal Code and sections 9 and 9A of the narcotics law are on Statute Search.

The Balochistan High Court, 16 June 2023: the date decides

The High Court did not doubt the case itself: "the prosecution has successfully proved the case to the hilt" (para 8). The problem was the sentence. The offence was committed in June; the new table came in September: "As the amendment was brought on 06.09.2022 and the offence was committed on 12.06.2022 prior to the promulgation of the amendment, therefore, the newly inserted amendment made through the Act of 2022 could not be retrospectively applied and enforced" (para 9).

The Court quoted Article 12 of the Constitution, which forbids punishing a person "for an offence by a penalty greater than, or of a kind different from, the penalty prescribed by law for that offence at the time the offence was committed." and held that "the sentence awarded by the Trial Court is in utter violation of Article 12 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973" (para 9).

It then looked at the man himself: "the punishment awarded to the appellant is harsh for a first offender, who has no previous criminal record, therefore, the appellant deserves leniency." (para 11). The order: "reducing the sentence of the appellant from nine years to three years and fine of Rs.80,000/- to Rs.30,000/- with the premium of section 382-B, Cr.P.C." (para 12). The Court also sent the judgment to every Sessions Judge, Additional Sessions Judge and Judicial Magistrate in Balochistan.

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The case at a glance

Facts

On 12 June 2022 a man was found at Balochabad Hub with 3,000 grams of charas in three packets (para 5). On 26 September 2022 the trial court convicted him and sentenced him to nine years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 80,000 under the new table of the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Act 2022, promulgated on 6 September 2022 (paras 1 and 9).

The question

Whether the conviction was safe, and whether the penalty table that came in after the offence could be applied to it (paras 3, 8 and 9).

What the Court held

The conviction was upheld (para 8). The new table could not be applied retrospectively, and the sentence breached Article 12 of the Constitution (para 9). For a first offender, the sentence was reduced from nine years to three and the fine from Rs 80,000 to Rs 30,000, with the benefit of section 382-B (paras 11 and 12).

Why

Article 12(1)(b) forbids a penalty greater than the one prescribed by law when the offence was committed. The offence (12 June 2022) came before the amendment (6 September 2022), so its harsher minimums could not be used (para 9). The Court relied on earlier rulings of the Supreme Court and two High Courts that penal laws cannot be enforced retrospectively (para 10), and found the sentence harsh for a man with no previous record (para 11).

Limits

The ruling turns on the date of the offence: for an offence after 6 September 2022 the new table applies. The three-year sentence followed from this man's own record as a first offender; it is not a fixed answer for every older case. Bail, and the rules on safe custody of the samples, are separate questions.

The law it relies on

What this does not mean

• It does not mean 406 and 420 always bring seven years. Seven years is the most the law allows; a court can give less, and under 406 a fine alone.
• It does not mean every narcotics case from before September 2022 ends in three years. The Court applied the law in force on the day of the offence and then looked at this man's record as a first offender (paras 9 and 11).
• It does not mean the man was cleared. The Court found the case proved (para 8) and changed only the sentence and the fine.
• The reel's pictures (the paper with four numbers, the cheque, the table card) only illustrate the law. Nobody in the case is named here, and no drug is shown.

Questions people ask

Sources

• A v. The State (name withheld), Criminal Jail Appeal No. 63 of 2022 (Balochistan High Court, 16 June 2023)
  A man caught on 12 June 2022 with 3,000 grams of charas was sentenced under the narcotics table that came in on 6 September 2022. The harsher table could not apply to an earlier offence (Article 12(1)(b)); for a first offender, nine years were reduced to three and the fine from Rs 80,000 to Rs 30,000.
• Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, Sections 405, 406, 415, 420 and 489-F text checked in FAI Statute Search, 12 November 2026 Pakistan Code
• Control of Narcotic Substances Act, 1997, Section 9 (as substituted in 2022) and section 9A(3) text checked in FAI Statute Search, 12 November 2026

Every quote and section above is traced to the full judgment or statute text by an automatic check that runs on every update.

What the reel says