Special summons in petty offences allow written guilty pleas or advocate appearances and summary disposal by the Magistrate. Magistrates may issue special summons for a petty offence that can be summarily disposed of, directing the accused to appear in person or by advocate, or to submit a written guilty plea and the specified fine by post or messenger; an accused may authorise an advocate to plead guilty and pay the fine. The definition of petty offence is limited to offences punishable only with a fine up to the statutory cap, with specified exclusions. The State Government may notify empowerment of Magistrates to apply this procedure to certain compoundable or short-term imprisonment offences where a fine alone is appropriate.