(1) Subject to any rules that may be made in this behalf, a conciliation officer or a Tribunal shall follow such procedure as the officer or Tribunal may think fit.
     (2) A conciliation officer or a Tribunal may, for the purpose of inquiry into any existing or apprehended dispute, after giving reasonable notice, enter any premises in the occupation of any party to the dispute.
     (3) Every Tribunal shall have the same powers as are vested in a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), when trying a suit, in respect of the following matters, namely:--
         (a) enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;
         (b) compelling the production of documents and material objects;
         (c) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses; and
         (d) in respect of such other matters as may be prescribed;
and every inquiry or investigation by a Tribunal shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) and the Tribunal shall be deemed to be a Civil Court for the purposes of section 195 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
     (4) A conciliation officer may call for and inspect any document which he has ground for considering to be relevant to the dispute or to be necessary for the purpose of verifying the implementation of any award or carrying out any other duty imposed on him under this Chapter, and for the aforesaid purposes, the conciliation officer shall have the same powers as are vested in a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), in respect of compelling the production of documents.
     (5) A Tribunal may, if it so thinks fit, appoint one or more persons having special knowledge of the matter under consideration as assessor or assessors to advise it in the proceeding before it.
     (6) A Tribunal may grant to any party to any proceeding before it, such interim or other reliefs (whether subject to any conditions or not), including stay of any order, issue of any injunction or direction in regard to payment of wages or other amounts payable under the agreement referred to in section 3, setting aside any unilateral termination of contract or the dismissal of a worker or reinstating a worker, as it deems just and proper in the circumstances of the case:
     Provided that the Tribunal shall not grant any such interim relief unless all the parties to the proceeding have been served with a notice on the application for such interim relief and have been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard:
     Provided further that the Tribunal may, having regard to the nature of the interim relief sought and the circumstances of the case, pass appropriate orders granting such interim relief as it deems just and proper in the circumstances of the case before the notice referred to in the preceding proviso is served on the parties to the proceeding:
     Provided also that where the Tribunal makes any order under the proviso immediately preceding, it shall record the reasons for making the order before complying with the requirements specified in the first proviso.
     (7) Subject to any rules that may be made in this behalf, the awarding of damages in, and the costs of, and incidental to, any proceeding before a Tribunal shall be in the discretion of that Tribunal and the Tribunal shall have full power to determine by and to whom and to what extent and subject to what conditions, if any, such damages or costs are to be paid, and to give all necessary directions for the purposes aforesaid and such damages or costs may, on an application made to the Central Government by the person entitled, be directed to be recovered by that Government in the same manner as an arrear of land revenue.