Section 38: Prosecution of offences by the Commission

38. Prosecution of offences by the Commission.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898) all prosecution of offences against any person under this Act or the administered legislation, shall be conducted by a special public prosecutor appointed by the Commission: Provided that special public prosecutor or advocates appointed by the Commission may institute or defend cases, appeals, petitions, applications and all other matters before any court including the High Court and Supreme Court in matters arising out of or in relation to proceedings under this Act or any administered legislation. 1Subs. by Act No. XXXVI of 2016, s. 22. (2) On receipt of complaint the court shall issue summons as for the attendance of the accused in the first instance and on failure of the accused to appear before the court, warrant of arrest shall be issued by the court. (3) The complaint referred in this section shall mean the report in writing of the investigation officer stating the facts constituting the offence along with statements of witnesses recorded under section 32 and copies thereof shall be supplied to the accused free of cost before the commencement of the trial. (4) Personal attendance of the officer authorized by the Commission to file a complaint before the court trying the offence shall not be required during the trial proceedings in the presence of special public prosecutor referred to in sub­section (1). (5) The court shall adopt procedure provided for under Chapter XXII­A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898) in the manner not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act and all prosecutions before the court under this Act shall be disposed of and the judgment pronounced, as expeditiously as possible. (6) The hearing of the matters referred to in sub­section (1) shall not be adjourned except for sufficient cause to be recorded or for more than fourteen days at one time and court may impose such cost as it may deems fit. (7) The court may, for reasons to be recorded, dispense with any procedure in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898) and follow such procedure as it may deem fit in the circumstances of the case for expeditious disposal of the complaint.]

Effective date: 1997-01-01

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