59.—(1) The Authority or any officer authorised by the Authority in that behalf may, for the purpose of discharging its functions under this Act, by order —
(a)
require any person to furnish the Authority with any information in his possession which relates to any telecommunication service or telecommunication system; and
(b)
require any person who has in his custody or under his control any document which relates to any telecommunication service or telecommunication system —
(i)
to furnish the Authority with a copy of or extract from the document; or
(ii)
unless the document forms part of the records or other documents of a court or public authority, to transmit the document itself to the Authority for inspection.
(2) The Authority or the officer authorised by the Authority in that behalf shall be entitled without payment to keep any copy or extract furnished to him under subsection (1).
(3) The Authority or any officer authorised by the Authority in that behalf shall at all reasonable times in the day have full and free access to all buildings, places, books, documents and other papers for the purpose of discharging its functions under this Act, and may, without payment, inspect, copy or make extracts from any such books, documents or papers.
(4) The Authority may take possession of any equipment, books, documents or papers where in its opinion —
(a)
the equipment, books, documents or papers may be interfered with or destroyed unless possession is taken; or
(b)
the equipment, books, documents or papers may be required as evidence in proceedings for an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder.
(5) The rights conferred by this section shall, in relation to information recorded otherwise than in legible form, include the right to require the information to be made available in legible form for inspection or for a copy or extract to be made of or from it.
(6) Any person who —
(a)
fails to comply with any requirement specified in any order under subsection (1);
(b)
intentionally alters, suppresses or destroys any document or information which he has been required by any order under subsection (1) to furnish or transmit to; or
(c)
in furnishing any information required of him under any order under subsection (1), makes any statement which he knows to be false in a material particular, or recklessly makes any statement which is false in a material particular,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $50 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.
(7) No person shall by virtue of this section be obliged to disclose any particulars as to which he is under any statutory obligation to observe secrecy.