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" IS MAGISTRATE COMPETENT UNDER SECTION 30 OF THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, 1898, TO TRY CASES UNDER THE SINDH ARMS ACT, 2013 IS MAGISTRATE COMPETENT UNDER SECTION 30 OF THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, 1898, TO TRY CASES UNDER THE SINDH ARMS ACT, 2013 By Haleem Ahmed, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Karachi East The Code of Criminal Procedure ("Code") envisages two tiers of Courts i.e. Court of Session and Court of Magistrate, besides the High Court, which is the Constitutional Court and not established by the Code. Unlike Sessions Court, the Court of Magistrate is vested with ordinary, special and additional powers under the Code at different levels of criminal proceedings. Ordinarily, a Magistrate cannot pass sentence exceeding three years imprisonment. However, section 30 of the Code vests in the Magistrate power to try as a Magistrate all offences not punishable with death. The Provincial Assembly of Sindh has enacted the Sindh Arms Act, 2013 ("Act") in recent times, which provides for offences pertaining to arms and ammunitions, where maximum punishment for the offence is extendable to fourteen years imprisonment. The debate has sparked within the legal fraternity in general and district judiciary in particular whether Magistrate vested with special jurisdiction section 30 of the Code is competent to try offences under the Act , notwithstanding anything contained in the Act. For the sake of discussion, it is imperative to precisely examine sections 28 and 29 which are relevant in this context. Section 28 reads as: "Offences under Penal Code: Subject to the other provisions of this Code any offence under the Pakistan Penal Code may be tried-- (a) by the High Court, or (b) by the Court of Session, or by any other Court by which…