https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=44176 Sentencing for smuggling offences under the Customs Act must reflect the gravity of the economic offence, the statutory minimum, and the need for deterrence in cases affecting community and national interest. A guilty plea does not, by itself, justify a sentence below the statutory mandate, and mitigating factors cannot displace the minimum punishment where the offence is serious and organised. The commentary notes that in a large-value smuggling case involving foreign nationals and contraband, the trial court had not given sufficient weight to these sentencing principles, although the principal accused's sentence was treated as justified on the facts. en-us Mon, 26 Dec 1994 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:00:07 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=44176 Sentencing for smuggling offences under the Customs Act must reflect the gravity of the economic offence, the statutory minimum, and the need for deterrence in cases affecting community and national interest. A guilty plea does not, by itself, justify a sentence below the statutory mandate, and mitigating factors cannot displace the minimum punishment where the offence is serious and organised. The commentary notes that in a large-value smuggling case involving foreign nationals and contraband, the trial court had not given sufficient weight to these sentencing principles, although the principal accused's sentence was treated as justified on the facts. Case-Laws Customs Mon, 26 Dec 1994 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=44176