Conditions under which witness at a preliminary inquiry need not be called at the trial

(1) Where any person has been committed for trial by an examining magistrate, if it appears to the Director of Public Prosecutions that attendance at the trial of any witness who has made a deposition for the prosecution and bound over is unnecessary, the Director of Public Prosecutions may cause notice to be given to such person that the witness will not be called at the trial and shall at the same time instruct the Commissioner of Police to serve notice on the witness not to attend the trial. (2) Where notice under sub-section (1) has been given to the person committed for trial he may give notice at any time to the Registrar that he desires the witness to attend at the trial, and the Registrar shall forthwith inform the Commissioner of Police of the fact and he shall thereupon cause notice to be served on the witness that he is required to attend in pursuance of his recognisance and the witness shall be bound to attend accordingly. (3) Unless the person committed for trial gives notice under sub-section (2), the deposition of the witness whose attendance at the trial is not required may be read at the trial in accordance with section 123. (4) Where a magistrate commits a person for trial the magistrate shall ask such person to state the address at which a notice may be delivered for him under sub-section (1) if he is on bail, and the magistrate shall note the address at the end of the deposition and 50 inform the person committed for trial of his right to require the attendance at the trial of any such witness whose evidence he requires and of the steps which he must take for the purpose of enforcing such attendance. (5) Any notice to a person committed for trial or to the Registrar shall be in writing, and a notice to a person committed for trial shall be sufficiently served if it is delivered to the keeper of the prison in which the person is confined, or if he is on bail at the address given to the magistrate by him. (6) Service of a notice under this section shall be made by a police officer and a return of service in the prescribed form endorsed on a copy of the notice purporting to be signed by the police officer shall be sufficient evidence of the facts stated therein without proof of the signature or of the official character of the police officer. Division 5 Bail