72. Attendance of witnesses.- (1) 1[A] Panchayat may by summons send for any person to appear and give evidence or to produce or cause the production of any document:
Provided that-(a)no person who is exempt from personal appearance in court under sub-section (1) of section 133 of the Code of Civil Proceedure, 1908, (V of 1908) shall be required to appear in person before a 2* * Panchayat in a civil suit;(b)a 2* * Panchayat may refuse to summon a witness or to enforce a summons already issued against a witness, when in its opinion the attendance of the witnesses cannot be procured without an amount of delay, expense or inconvenience which in the circumstances would be un-reasonable;(c)a 2’ * Panchayat shall not require any person living beyond its jurisdiction to give evidence or to produce a document unless such a sum of money be paid to him as appears to 2[the] Panchayat to be sufficient to defray his reasonable expenses;(d)no woman shall be compelled to appear as a witness in person before 3[a] Panchayat. She may be examined on commission in the manner prescribed; and(e)if a document is produced in obedience to a summons issued under this section the 2* * Panchayat shall cause the document 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 4* * Panchayat summons by written order to appear or give evidence or to produce any document before it, wilfully fails to obey such summons, the 4* * Panchayat may take cognizance of such disobedience and after giving such person an opportunity to explain may, on conviction, sentence him to a fine not exceeding twenty-five rupees.
