Sentencing must follow the law in force on the offence date; later narcotics penalties were irrelevant and custody served sufficed.

Sentencing for an offence under the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930 had to be determined only by reference to the law in force on the date of the offence. The court held that reliance on harsher penalties introduced by later narcotics legislation was an extraneous consideration and could not justify a heavier sentence. In view of the petitioner's foreign nationality, guilty plea, the fact that the contraband was being taken out of India, and the custody already undergone, the sentence was confined to the period already served and release was ordered.

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Issues: Whether the sentence imposed for an offence under the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930 was liable to be reduced on the ground that the sentencing court was influenced by the harsher penalties introduced under the later narcotics legislation.

Analysis: The offence was committed under the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930, and the later narcotics law had not been brought into force on the date of the offence. The sentencing court nevertheless referred to the harsher punishments under the new law and treated them as relevant in assessing the seriousness of the present offence. Since the conviction and sentence had to be determined only with reference to the law in force on the date of the offence, reliance on the later statute was an extraneous consideration in sentencing. Taking into account the petitioner's foreign nationality, his guilty plea, the fact that the contraband was being taken out of India, and the period already undergone in custody, the sentence was considered fit to be confined to the imprisonment already served.

Conclusion: The sentence was reduced to the period already undergone and the petitioner was ordered to be released.

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