(1)A Collector may, without the order of a Magistrate, investigate any offence punishable under this Act , which a Court having jurisdiction over the local area within the limits of the Collector’s jurisdiction would have power to try.(2)A Collector may, after recording in writing his reason for suspecting the commission of an offence which he is empowered to investigate, exercise any of the powers conferred upon a police officer making an investigation, or upon an officer in charge of a police-station, by sections 160 to 171 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.(3)A Collector may without reference to a Magistrate, and for reasons to be recorded by him in writing, stop further proceedings against any persons concerned, or supposed to be concerned, in any offence which he has investigated.
