(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 subsection (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[1] [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 authorised 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 account or documents or take extracts or
copies therefrom, 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). [STATE AMENDMENTS [West Bengal [2] [In Section 5 To sub-section
(3), the following Explanation shall be added:- "Explanation.-For
the purpose of this sub-section, any police officer of or above the rank of
Inspector of Police shall be deemed to be a gazetted officer.".]]] [5A. Power of
Commission to utilise the services of certain officers and investigation
agencies for conducting investigation pertaining to inquiry[3] (1) The Commission may, for the purpose of
conducting any investigation pertaining to the inquiry, utilise the services,-- (a) in the case of a Commission appointed by the
Central Government, of any officer or investigation agency of the Central
Government or any State Government with the concurrence of the Central
Government or the State Government, as the case may be; or (b) in the case of a Commission appointed by the
State Government, of any officer or investigation agency of the State
Government or Central Government with the concurrence of the State Government
or the Central Government, as the case may be. (2) For the purpose of investigating into any matter
pertaining to the inquiry,
any officer or agency whose services are utilised under sub-section (1) may,
subject to the direction and control of the Commission,-- (a) summon and enforce the attendance of any
person and examine him; (b) require the discovery and production of any
document; and (c) requisition any public record or copy thereof
from any office. (3) The provisions of section 6 shall apply in
relation to any statement made by a person before any officer or agency whose
services are utilised under sub section (1) as they apply in relation to any
statement made by a person in the course of giving evidence before the
Commission. (4) The officer or agency, whose services are utilised
under sub-section (1), shall investigate into any matter pertaining to
the inquiry and submit
a report thereon (hereafter in this section referred to as the investigation
report) to the Commission within such period as may be specified by the
Commission in this behalf. (5) The Commission shall satisfy itself about the
correctness of the facts stated and the conclusions, if any, arrived at in the
investigation report submitted to it under sub-section (4), and for this
purpose the Commission may make such inquiry (including the examination of the person or persons
who conducted or assisted in the investigation) as it thinks fit. [STATE AMENDMENTS [West Bengal [4] [After Section 5A The following
section shall be inserted, namely:- "5AA. Power
to authorise a Commission to try certain offences summarily.-- (1) Where the person or, as the case may be, one
at least of the persons constituting a Commission appointed by the State
Government is a person who is holding or has held the office of a Judge of the
Supreme Court or of a High Court or any other judicial office not lower in rank
than that of a Sessions Judge and the State Government is of opinion that,
having regard to the nature of inquiry to
be made and other circumstances of the case, the provisions of this section
should be made applicable to such Commission, the State Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, direct that the provisions of this
section shall apply to that Commission and on the issue of such a notification,
the said provisions shall apply accordingly. (2) If at any stage of a proceeding before the
Commission it appears to the Commission that any person appearing in such
proceeding had knowingly or wilfully given false evidence or had fabricated
false evidence with the intention that such evidence should be used in such
proceeding, the Commission may, if satisfied that it is necessary and expedient
in the interest of justice that the person should be tried summarily for giving
or fabricating, as the case may be, false evidence, take cognizance of the
offence and may, after giving the offender a reasonable opportunity of showing
cause why he should not be punished for such offence, try such offender
summarily, so far as may be, in accordance with the procedure prescribed for
summary trials under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and sentence him to
imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or to fine which may
extend to five hundred rupees, or to both. (3) When any such offence as is described in
section 175, section 178, section 179 or section 180 of the Indian Penal Code
is committed in the view or presence of the Commission, the Commission may
cause the offender to be detained in custody and may, at any time on the same day,
take cognizance of the offence and, after giving the offender a reasonable
opportunity of showing cause why he should not be punished under this section,
sentence the offender to simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one
month, or to fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or to both. (4) In every case tried under sub-section (3),
the Commission shall record the facts constituting the offence with the
statement (if any) made by the offender as well as the finding and the sentence. (5) Any person convicted on a trial held under
sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) may appeal to the High Court and the
provisions of Chapter XXIX of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, shall, so
far as they are applicable, apply to appeals under this section, and the
Appellate Court may alter or reverse the finding, or reduce or reverse the
sentence appealed against. (6) The provisions of this section shall have
effect notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973
or in sub-section (4) of section 5 but nothing in this section shall affect the
power (if any) of the Commission to proceed under sub-section (4) of section 5
in respect of any offence, where it does not choose to proceed under this
section. (7) Words and expressions used in this section
and not defined in this Act shall
have the same meanings as in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.".]COMMISSIONS OF INQUIRY ACT, 1952 (WEST
BENGAL AMENDMENT)