Section 15:
Procedure of Special Tribunals.
(1) A Special Tribunal may take cognizance of offences
without the accused being committed to it for trial.
(2) Save in cases of trials of offences punishable with death or imprisonment for life or imprisonment
for a term which may extend to five years or more, it shall not be necessary in any trial for a Special
Tribunal to take down the evidence at length in writing, but the Special Tribunal shall cause a
memorandum of the substance of what each witness deposes, to be taken down, and such memorandum
shall be signed by a member of the Special Tribunal and shall form part of the record.
(3) A Special Tribunal shall not be bound to adjourn any trial for any purpose unless such
adjournment is, in its opinion, necessary in the interests of justice.
(4) A Special Tribunal shall not, merely by reason of a change in its members, be bound to recall and
to re-hear any witness who has given evidence, and it may act on the evidence already recorded by or
produced before it.
(5) After an accused person has once appeared before it, a Special Tribunal may try him in his
absence if, in its opinion, his absence has been brought about by the accused himself for the purpose of
impeding the course of justice, or if the behaviour of the accused in court has been such as, in the opinion
of the Special Tribunal, to impede the course of justice.
(6) In the event of any difference of opinion among the members of a Special Tribunal, the opinion of
the majority shall prevail.
(7) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules providing for—
(i) the times and places at which Special Tribunals may sit; and
(ii) the procedure to be adopted in the event of any member of a Special Tribunal being prevented
from attending throughout the trial of any accused person.
(8) A Special Tribunal shall, in all matters in respect to which no procedure has been prescribed by
this Act or by rules made thereunder, follow the procedure prescribed by the Code for the trial of warrant
cases by Magistrates.