179.—(1) A commanding officer may, in accordance with regulations made under section 184, delegate to any officer under his command the power of disposing of charges against privates or seamen under the command of the commanding officer in respect of any of the scheduled offences specified in Part I of the Eleventh Schedule to this Act and every officer to whom such power is delegated shall, for the purposes of this section, be a subordinate officer.

(2) A subordinate officer investigating a charge against a private or seaman, who is subject to military law, of having committed any of the offences referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall—

(a) dismiss the charge if, in his discretion, he considers that it should not be proceeded with, or

(b) where the subordinate officer considers that the charge should be proceeded with, refer the charge to the commanding officer who shall deal with the charge in accordance with sections 178 to 178D, or

(c) subject to this section and in accordance with regulations made under section 184, deal with the charge summarily.]