Power to authorise inquiring authority to enforce attendance of witnesses and production of documents

(1) Every Inquiring Authority authorised under section 4, (hereinafter referred to as the "authorised inquiring authority") shall have the same powers as are vested in a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, (Central Act V of 1908.) while trying a suit in respect of the following matters, namely:— (a) the summoning and enforcing the attendance of any witness and examining him on oath; (b) requiring the discovery and production of any document or other material which is producible as evidence; (c) receiving evidence on affidavits; (d) requisitioning of any public record or copy thereof from any court or office; (e) issuing commission for the examination of witnesses or documents; (f) any such other matters as may be prescribed. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the authorised inquiring authority shall not compel, (i) the Lokayukta or Upa-Lokayukta or any member of their staff to appear before him to give any evidence relating to any information obtained by them in the course of, or for the purposes of, any investigation under the Andhra Pradesh Lokayukta and Upa-Lokayukta Act, 1983 (Act 11 of 1983) or to produce evidence recorded or collected by them in connection with such information; (ii) the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of India, and subsidiary banks as defined in clause (k) of section 2 of the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959 (Central Act 38 of 1959), any corresponding new bank constituted under section 3 of the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 (Central Act 5 of 1970) or the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980 (Central Act 40 of 1980) or a Regional Rural Bank established under section 3 of the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 (Central Act 21 of 1976), the Industrial Development Bank of India established under section 3 of the Industrial Development Bank of India Act, 1964 (Central Act 18 of 1964), the Export-Import Bank of India established under section 3 of the Export-Import Bank Act, 1981 (Central Act 28 of 1981), the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development established under section 3 of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act, 1981 (Central Act 61 of 1981), The Industrial Reconstruction Bank of India established under section 3 of the Industrial Reconstruction Bank of India Act, 1984 (Central Act 62 of 1984), the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India established under the Indian Companies Act, 1913, the Industrial Finance Corporation established under section 3 of the Industrial Finance Corporation of India Act, 1948 (Central Act 15 of 1948), State Financial Corporations established under the State Financial Corporations Act, 1951 (Central Act 63 of 1951), National Housing Bank established under section 3 of the National Housing Bank Act, 1987 (Central Act 53 of 1987), or any company or co-operative society carrying on the business of banking as defined in clause (b) of section 5 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (Central Act 10 of 1949) or any other public financial institution so notified by the Central Government— (a) to produce any books of accounts or other documents which the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of India, the subsidiary bank of State Bank of India, any corresponding new bank, the Regional Rural Bank, the Industrial Development Bank of India, the Export-Import Bank of India, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, the Industrial Reconstruction Bank of India, the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India, the Industrial Finance Corporation of India, the State Financial Corporations, the National Housing Bank, or any company or Co-operative Society carrying on the business of banking as defined in clause (b) of section 5 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (Central Act 10 of 1949), claims to be of a confidential nature or any other public financial institution so notified by the Central Government; or (b) to make any such books or documents, a part of the record of the proceedings of the departmental inquiry; or (c) to give inspection of any such books or documents, if produced to any party before it or to any other person. (3) Every process issued by an authorised inquiring authority for the attendance of any witness or for the production of any document shall be served and executed through the District Judge within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the witness or other person, on whom the process is to be served or executed, voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain and for the purpose of taking any action for the disobedience of any such process, every such process shall be deemed to be a process issued by the District Judge. (4) Every authorised inquiring authority making any departmental inquiry under this Act shall be deemed to be a Civil Court for the purposes of sections 345 and 346 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act 2 of 1974).