In any of the following cases, that is to say,—
(a) where it appears to any civil court that the evidence of a person confined in a prison is material in any matter pending before it and that the attendance of such person in court cannot be secured by reason of the provisions of section 6 or of an order under section 4 or of the district judge declining under sub-section (3) of section 3 to counter sign an order for removal; or
(b) where it appears to any civil court as aforesaid that the evidence of a person confined in a prison which is situated outside the State in which, or is more than fifty miles distant from the place at which, such court is held is material in any such matter,
the court may, if it thinks fit, issue a commission under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), for the examination of the person in the prison in which he is confined.