Reduction of term of imprisonment

(1) Where any person is convicted of a crime punishable by a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment under the Code or any other enactment, the court may, if it considers that the justice of the case so requires, having regard to special reasons which must be recorded in writing, exercise its discretion to sentence the person to a term of imprisonment, as the case may be, less than the mandatory minimum term prescribed for the crime for the Code or other enactment, as the case may be. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the court may not sentence an offender who is eighteen years of age or over, to less than the prescribed mandatory minimum term, where the crime he has been convicted of is– (a) murder; or (b) an offence under section 46 (rape), 47(1) (unlawful sexual intercourse with person under the age of fourteen years), 47A (rape of a child) or 62 (incest) of the Code.