Section 24

Any person who contravenes any provision of this Part shall be guilty of an offence and may be arrested without warrant by any police officer or authorised officer and taken before a Magistrate’s Court.

Despite subsection (1) or any other written law for the time being in force, any police officer or authorised officer who, having effected an arrest under subsection (1), is satisfied as to the identity, name and place of residence of the person arrested, may, instead of taking the person before a Magistrate’s Court or to a police station, serve upon that person a notice in such form as may be required under section 53 requiring that person to attend at the Court described at the hour and on the date specified in the notice.

For the purpose of satisfying himself or herself as to the identity of the person arrested, the police officer or authorised officer may require the person arrested to furnish any evidence of identity as the police officer or authorised officer may consider necessary.

A duplicate of the notice served under subsection (2) must be prepared by the police officer or authorised officer (as the case may be) and produced by the police officer or authorised officer to a Magistrate’s Court if so required by the Court.

On an accused appearing before a Magistrate’s Court under such a notice, the Court is to take cognizance of the offence alleged and is to proceed as though the accused were produced before it under subsection (1).

If a person upon whom a notice under subsection (2) has been served fails to appear before a Magistrate’s Court in accordance with the notice, the Court is to then issue a warrant for the arrest of that person.

Where a person is arrested under subsection (6), a Magistrate’s Court —