The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
CHAPTER II: APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL JUDGES
Section 5: Procedure And Powers Of Special Judge
Bare Act
(1) A special Judge may take cognizance of offences without the accused being committed to him for trial and, in trying the accused persons, shall follow the procedure prescribed by the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), for the trial of warrant cases by Magistrates.
(2) A special Judge may, with a view to obtaining the evidence of any person supposed to have been directly or indirectly concerned in, or privy to, an offence, tender a pardon to such person on condition of his making a full and true disclosure of the whole circumstances within his knowledge relating to the offence and to every other person concerned, whether as principal or abettor, in the commission thereof and any pardon so tendered shall, for the purposes of sub-sections (1) to (5) of section 308 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), be deemed to have been tendered under section 307 of that Code.
(3) Save as provided in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), shall, so far as they are not inconsistent with this Act, apply to the proceedings before a special Judge; and for the purposes of the said provisions, the Court of the special Judge shall be deemed to be a Court of Session and the person conducting a prosecution before a special Judge shall be deemed to be a public prosecutor.
(4) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the provisions contained in sub-section (3), the provisions of sections 326 and 475 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), shall, so far as may be, apply to the proceedings before a special Judge and for the purposes of the said provisions, a special Judge shall be deemed to be a Magistrate.
(5) A special Judge may pass upon any person convicted by him any sentence authorised by law for the punishment of the offence of which such person is convicted.
(6) A special Judge, while trying an offence punishable under this Act, shall exercise all the powers and functions exercisable by a District Judge under the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944 (Ord. 38 of 1944).
Simplified Act
(1) A special judge can directly handle cases of corruption without needing the accused to be formally sent to them for trial. When they conduct the trial, they must use the same process that is used for serious criminal cases by regular judges.
(2) To get evidence from someone who might know about the crime, a special judge can offer to not punish them if they agree to fully tell everything they know about the crime and anyone else involved. This offer is similar to one found in the criminal procedure law.
(3) Unless stated otherwise in this act, the usual criminal procedures apply t… Read the complete text with KanoonGPT Pro.
Explanation using examples
Imagine a government official is accused of accepting bribes in return for awarding public contracts. The case is significant and complex, involving several accused individuals and intricate evidence. To handle this, a Special Judge is appointed under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Under Section 5(1), this Special Judge can directly take cognizance of the offence, meaning the case doesn't need to be referred by a lower court. The trial begins without the typical committal proceedings.
During the investigation, it's discovered that an assistant of the official has crucial information about the corruption scheme. Utilizing Section 5(2), the Special Judge offers this assistant a pardon in exchange for full disclosure of the corruption details, including the roles of the principal actors and abettors.
The trial proceeds, and the Special Judge applies the procedures from the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, as per Section 5(3), ensuring that the trial is fair and follows established legal protocols.
If the Special Judge needs to adjourn the trial or deal with an accused person's property, they can do so under the powers granted by Section 5(4), acting similarly to a Magistrate in these respects.
After the trial concludes, and if the official is found guilty, Section 5(5) allows the Special Judge to sentence the official to the appropriate punishment as per the law.
Lastly, throughout the trial, the Special Judge has all the powers of a District Judge in such cases, as stated in Section 5(6), ensuring they can effectively manage and decide on the case.
