(1) Whenever, in the course of a trial by an Assam Rifles Court, it appears to the Court that the examination of a witness is necessary for the ends of justice, and that the attendance of such witness cannot be procured without an amount of delay, expense or inconvenience which, in the circumstances of the case, would be unreasonable, such court may address the Chief Law Officer in order that a commission to take the evidence of such witness may be issued.
(2) The Chief Law Officer may then, if he thinks necessary, issue a commission to any Chief Judicial Magistrate or Judicial Magistrate of the first class, within the local limits of whose jurisdiction such witness resides to take the evidence of such witness.
(3) The Chief Judicial Magistrate or Judicial Magistrate of the first class to whom the commission is issued, or if he is the Chief Judicial Magistrate, he or such Judicial Magistrate of the first class as he appoints in this behalf, shall summon the witness before him and shall take down his evidence in the same manner, and may for this purpose exercise the same powers, as in the trials of warrant-cases under the Code of criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
(4) When the witness resides in tribal area or in any place outside India, the commission may be issued in the manner specified in sub-heading "B.—Commissions for the examination of witnesses" of Chapter XXIII of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).