10Power of appropriate Government to direct inquiry into cases of accidents or diseases

(1) The appropriate Government may, if it considers it expedient to do so, appoint a competent person to inquire into the causes of any accident occurring in connection with any dock work or into any cases where a disease specified by regulations as a disease connected with dock work has been or is suspected to have been contracted by dock workers and may also appoint one or more persons possessing legal or special knowledge to act as assessors in such inquiry.

(2) The person appointed to hold an inquiry under this section shall have all the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) for the purposes of enforcing the attendance of witnesses and compelling the production of documents and material objects and may also, so far as may be necessary for the purposes of the inquiry, exercise any of the powers of an Inspector under this Act; and every person required by the person making the inquiry to furnish any information shall be deemed to be legally bound so to do within the meaning of section 176 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).

(3) The person holding the inquiry under this section shall make a report to the appropriate Government stating the causes of the accident or, as the case may be, disease and any attendant circumstances and adding any observations which he or any of the assessors may think fit to make.

(4) The procedure to be followed at inquiries under this section shall be such as the appropriate Government may prescribe by rules under section 20.