(1) The State Government shall appoint in every district one or more Assistant Public Prosecutors for conducting prosecutions in the Courts of Magistrates.
1[(1A) The Central Government may appoint one or more Assistant Public Prosecutors for the purpose of conducting any case or class of cases in the Courts of Magistrates.]
(2) Save as otherwise provided in sub-section (3), no police officer shall be eligible to be appointed as an Assistant Public Prosecutor.
(3) Where no Assistant Public Prosecutor is available for the purposes of any particular case, the District Magistrate may appoint any other person to be the Assistant Public Prosecutor in charge of that case:
Provided that a police officer shall not be so appointed--
(a) if he has taken any part in the investigation into the offence with respect to which the accused is being prosecuted; or
(b) if he is below the rank of Inspector.
STATE AMENDMENT
Orissa
Amendment of section 25.--In section 25 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) (hereinafter referred to as the said Code), to sub-section (2), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:--
"Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall be construed, to prohibit the State Government from exercising its control over Assistant Public Prosecutors through police officers."
[Vide Orissa Act 6 of 1995, s. 2]