297.  Whenever at a committal hearing the evidence of any witness has been taken for the purpose of proving the custody or disposal of any matter or thing forwarded in the course of the inquiry to any public officer for examination or analysis or report, or of proving the custody or disposal of any instrument, weapon, matter or thing used in or for the commission of any offence, or of proving the accuracy of any plan or survey made or photograph taken by that witness for the purpose of the case, the High Court may, if it thinks fit, allow the deposition of that witness, taken and attested by an examining Magistrate in the presence of the accused to be given in evidence in any trial before the High Court although the deponent is not called as a witness.