Sentence reduced to time served, permitting the convicted foreign national’s repatriation.

The appellant was convicted under Section 14A(b) of the Foreigners Act, 1946, after pleading guilty, and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 6,000

In appeal, she raised a plea of juvenility, relying on a Bangladeshi passport recording her date of birth as 30 December 2007, and sought repatriation to Bangladesh

The State opposed reopening the merits in light of the guilty plea but stated it would not object to repatriation and left the sentence to the Court’s consideration

By the time of the appeal, the appellant had served approximately one and a half years in custody

1. Whether the appellant could pursue issues other than sentence in appeal after pleading guilty.

2. Whether the sentence of imprisonment should be reduced to the period already undergone, having regard to the appellant’s time in custody and request for repatriation.

Section 14A(b) of the Foreigners Act, 1946, was the provision under which the appellant was convicted.

The Court treated the appellant’s guilty plea as a basis for declining to entertain other appellate questions and confined its consideration to sentence.

No precedent or further legal test was cited in the judgment.

The Court noted that the appellant had pleaded guilty and had not raised juvenility at trial; it therefore considered that questions beyond sentence could hardly be entertained.

It then took account of the fact that she had already served about half of her three-year sentence, her wish to return to Bangladesh, and the State’s lack of objection to repatriation.

The Court concluded that continued detention would serve no purpose and reduced the custodial sentence accordingly.

It directed the appellant’s immediate release and repatriation to Bangladesh in accordance with law, and directed that her Bangladeshi passport be handed to her through the Superintendent of the Correctional Home at release.

Any articles seized at arrest were to be returned in accordance with law.

The appeal was disposed of.