37. POWERS OF INVESTIGATING OFFICERS. – (1) An Investigating Officer shall exercise the powers conferred on him by or under this Act, and shall perform such duties as may be assigned to him, from time to time, by the Court. (2) For the purpose of exercising such powers and performing such duties, an investigating Officer may, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, at any time during working hours, and outside working hours after reasonable notice, enter and inspect – (a) any place used for the purpose of any undertaking; (b) any place used as the office of any union; (c) any premises provided by an employer for the residence of his employees; and shall be entitled to call for and inspect all relevant documents which he may deem necessary for the due discharge of his duties and powers under this Act. (3) All particulars contained in, or information obtained from, any document inspected or called for under sub-section (2) shall, if the person, in whose possession the document was, so requires, be treated as confidential. (4) An Investigating Officer may, after giving reasonable notice, convene a meeting of employees for any of the purposes of this Act, on the premises where they are employed, and may require the employer to affix a written notice of the meeting at such conspicuous place in such premises as he may order, and may also himself affix or cause to be affixed such notice. The notice shall specify the date, time and place of the meeting, the employees or class of employees affected, and the purpose for which the meeting is convened : Provided that, during the continuance of a lock-out which is not illegal, no meeting of employees affected thereby shall be convened on such premises without the employer's consent. (5) An Investigating Officer shall be entitled to appear in any proceeding under this Act. (6) An Investigating Officer may call for and inspect any document which he has reasonable ground for considering to be relevant to the complaint or to be necessary for the purpose of verifying the implementation of any order of the Court or carrying out any other duty imposed on him under this Act, and for the aforesaid purposes the Investigating Officer shall have the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, (V of 1908) in respect of compelling the production of documents.
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