Section 5 in Karnataka Departmental Inquiries (Enforcement of Attendance of Witnesses, Production of Documents and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1981
5. Power of authorised 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 5 of 1908) while trying a suit in respect of the following matters, namely: -(a)the summoning and enforcing the attendance of any witness from any part of the State and examining him on oath;(b)requiring the discovery and production of any document or other material which is producible as evidence;(c)the requisitioning of any public record form any court or office.(2)Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the authorised inquiring authority shall not compel the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of India, any subsidiary bank as defined in clause (k) of section 2 of the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959 (Central Act 38 of 1959) or 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 any corresponding new bank constituted under section 3 of the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980 (Central Act 40 of 1980), -(a)to produce any book of account or other documents which the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of India, the subsidiary bank or the corresponding new bank claims to be of a confidential nature , or(b)to make any such book or document a part of the record of the proceedings of the departmental inquiry , or(c)to give inspection of any such book or document, 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 purposes 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:[Provided that where an officer on the staff of the Lokayukta is the inquiring authority, the power conferred by this sub-section may be exercised by such inquiring authority and for the purpose of taking action for the disobedience of any such process, every such process, shall be deemed to be a process issued by a District Judge.] [Substituted by Act 28 of 1986 w.e.f. 06.06.1986.](4)Every authorised inquiring authority making any departmental inquiry under this Act, shall be deemed to be a civil court for the purpose of sections 345 and 346 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act 2 of 1974).
