Commission of Enquiries Act, 1952
5. Additional powers of Commission -
(1) Where the appropriate Government is of opinion that,
having regard to the nature of the inquiry to be made and other circumstances
of the case, all or any of the provisions of sub section (2) or sub section (3)
or sub section (4) or sub section (5) should be made applicable to a
Commission, the appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, direct that all or such of the said provisions as may be specified in
the notification shall apply to that Commission and on the issue of such a
notification, the said provisions shall apply accordingly.
(2) The Commission shall have power to require any person,
subject to any privilege which may be claimed by that person under any law for
the time being in force, to furnish information on such points or matters as,
in the opinion of the Commission, may be useful for, or relevant to, the
subject matter of the inquiry [(Note:- Ins. by Act 79 of 1971, sec.7) and any
person so required shall be deemed to be legally bound to furnish such
information within the meaning of section 176 and section 177 of the Indian
Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860)].
(3) The Commission or any officer, not below the rank of a
Gazetted Officer, specially authorized in this behalf
by the Commission may enter any building or place where the Commission has
reason to believe that any books of account or other documents relating to the
subject matter of the inquiry may be found, and may seize any books of accounts
or documents or take extracts or copies there from, subject to the provisions
of section 102 and section 103 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of
1898), in so far as they may be applicable.
(4) The Commission shall be deemed to be a civil court and
when any offence as is described in section 175, section 178, section 179,
section 180 or section 228 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) is committed
in the view or presence of the Commission, the Commission may, after recording the
facts constituting the offence and the statement of the accused as provided for
in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898), forward the case to a
magistrate having jurisdiction to try the same and the magistrate to whom any
such case is forwarded shall proceed to hear the complaint against the accused
as if the case had been forwarded to him under section 482 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1898.
(5) Any proceeding before the Commission shall be deemed
to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the
Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).