Challenge concerned imposition of penalty on a customs broker...

Challenge concerned imposition of penalty on a customs broker for alleged mis-declaration, overvaluation and aiding illegal importation. Court found no finding of mens rea, complicity, fraud or prior knowledge connecting the broker to the offences and held the penal provisions were misapplied. Advisory guidance cited that penalties cannot attach where no evidence of complicity exists. The authority had regulatory alternatives (license suspension or revocation) which it did not pursue. The High Court invoked inherent constitutional jurisdiction to set aside the penalty and allowed the writ petition.

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