The article discusses governance mechanisms across state-owned enterprises (SOEs) created under various legal instruments in Pakistan. Additionally, it attempts to compare state control and autonomy of SOEs as provided under various legal instruments in Pakistan. It is a descriptive paper based on secondary data from legal instruments (private and public laws), government reports, company reports and public documents. The paper found that SOEs are created under three broad categories of instruments in Pakistan including public laws, private laws and special instruments of cabinet or government. In terms of legal status, SOEs can be classified into three broad categories including statutory corporations and public companies and attached departments. Corporate governance model is a widely used structural arrangement present in various legal instruments. However, there is variation in the extent to which corporate governance model is adopted under different legal instruments. Differences are also found in state controls and autonomy of SOEs under various legal instruments.  The study contributes to the existing literature by examining the differences and similarities in the corporate governance mechanisms across SOEs created under different legal instruments. It also lays out agenda for further research in the area by highlighting the gap between SOE governance mechanisms at formal level (supported by legislation) and SOE governance mechanisms in practice (implementation level practices).