- No Magistrate shall try any offence under this of Act unless he is a [Presidency Magistrate, a Magistrate of the first class, or a Magistrate of the second class] [According to clauses (a), (b) and (c) of sub-section (3) of section 3 of the code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act 2 of 1974), any reference to a Magistrate of the first class, to a Magistrate of the second class or of the third class and to a Presidency Magistrate, shall be construed as a reference to a Judicial Magistrate of the first class, a Judicial Magistrate of the second class and to a Metropolitan Magistrate respectively.] specially empowered in this behalf by the [State] [This word was substituted for the word 'Provincial' by the Adaptation Order of 1950.], Government.
