(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint such persons as it thinks fit to be Inspectors for the purposes of this Act, and define the local limits within which they shall exercise their functions under the supervision of the Controlling Authority concerned.
(2) For the purpose of ascertaining whether any provisions of this Act are being complied with or not, an Inspector may, within the local limits for which he is appointed,-
(a) enter, at all reasonable hours, with such assistants (if any), being persons in the service of the Government or any local or other public authority, as he thinks fit, any premises or place of a factory or establishment in an industry for the purpose of examining any registers, account books and other records required to be kept under this Act or the rules made thereunder and require any one found in charge thereof to produce before him for examination any registers, account books and other records relating to the employment of the workmen and the payment of wages and house-rent allowance to them ;
(b) examine, with respect to any matter relevant to any of the purposes aforesaid, the employer, his agent or servant or any other person in charge of the factory or establishment or the records or any person whom the Inspector has reason to believe to be or to have been a workman in that factory or establishment ;
(c) seize or take copies of such registers, account books or other records or portions thereof as he may consider relevant in respect of any offence under this Act, which he has reason to believe has been committed by any employer or other person ;
(d) require the employer or his agent or servant or any workman to furnish such further information as he thinks fit ;
(e) exercise such other powers and discharge such other functions as may be prescribed.
(3) Any person required to produce any registers, account books or other records or to give any information, which is in his power to produce or give, to an Inspector as required by him under sub-section (2), shall be legally bound to do so.