For the purpose of taking evidence, enforcing the attendance of witnesses and compelling the production…

Section 45(7) of the Code on Wages, 2019 gives the authority appointed under s.45(1), and the appellate authority appointed under s.49(1), all the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 for taking evidence, enforcing the attendance of witnesses and compelling the production of documents.

They are not given the powers of a Court of Session or of a High Court. The Collector or District Magistrate comes in only at the stage of recovery: under s.45(3) he recovers unpaid amounts as arrears of land revenue on a certificate of recovery issued by the authority. The Code has no counterpart to the fifty-rupee penalty for malicious or vexatious applications (formerly s.20(4) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948).