196

ORDINANCE IX OF 1979 ORDINANCE IX OF 1979 BALUCHISTAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ORDINANCE, 1979 CHAPTER XX‑ PANCHAYATS 196. Attendance of witnesses.‑(1) A Panchayat, if necessary, may summon any person to appear before it and to give evidence or to produce or cause the production of any document ; Provided that‑ (a) a person who is exempt from personal appearance in Court under subsection (1) of section 133 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, shall not be required to appear in person before a Panchayat in a civil or a revenue suit; (b) A Panchayat may refuse to summon a witness or to enforce a summon already issued against a witness, when in its opinion the attendance of the witness cannot be procured without an amount of delay, expense or inconvenience which in the circumstances would be unreasonable; (c) A Panchayat shall not require any person living beyond its jurisdiction to give evidence or to produce a document unless such sum of money be paid to him as appears to the Panchayat to be sufficient to defray his reasonable expenses; (d) a woman shall not be compelled to appear as a witness in person before a Panchayat but may be examined on commission; and (e) if a document is produced in obedience to a 'summons issued tinder this section the Panchayat shall cause the documents to be copied, mark the copy after comparing with the original to be a true copy and return the original document to the person producing the same. (2) If any person, whom the Panchayat summons to appear to give evidence or to produce any document before it, wilfully fails to obey such summons, the Panchayat may take cognizance of such disobedience and after giving such person an opportunity to explain may impose a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees;