Discuss the duties of the Director General as per the Competition Act, 2002.

Section 41 of the Competition Act, 2002 (as amended in 2023) empowers the Director General to investigate contraventions. It provides that: The Director General shall, when so directed by the Commission, assist the Commission in investigating into any contravention of the provisions of this Act or any rules or regulations made thereunder. The Director General, in order to effectively discharge his functions, has been given the same powers as are conferred upon the commission under Section 36(2). Without prejudice to sub-section (2), it shall be the duty of all officers, other employees and agents of a party which are under investigation- to preserve and to produce all information, books, papers, other documents and records of, or relating to, the party which are in their custody or power to the Director General or any person authorised by it in this behalf; and to give all assistance in connection with the investigation to the Director General. The Director General may require any person other than a party referred to in sub-section (3) to furnish such information or produce such books, papers, other documents or records before it or any person authorised by it in this behalf if furnishing of such information or the production of such books, papers, other documents or records is relevant or necessary for the purposes of its investigation. The Director General may keep in his custody any information, books, papers, other documents or records produced under sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) for a period of one hundred and eighty days and thereafter shall return the same to the person by whom or on whose behalf the information, books, papers, other documents or records were produced: Provided that the information, books, papers, other documents or records, as may be applicable, produced before the Director General may be provided to the party or person on whose behalf the information, books, papers, other documents or records are produced at their own cost. The Director General may examine on oath- any of the officers and other employees and agents of the party being investigated; and with the previous approval of the Commission, any other person, in relation to the affairs of the party being investigated and may administer an oath accordingly and for that purpose may require any of those persons to appear before it personally. The examination under sub-section (6) shall be recorded in writing and shall be read over to or by, and signed by, the person examined and may thereafter be used in evidence against it. Where in the course of investigation, the Director General has reasonable grounds to believe that information, books, papers, other documents or records of, or relating to, any party or person, may be destroyed, mutilated, altered, falsified or secreted, the Director General may make an application to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Delhi for an order for seizure of such information, books, papers, other documents or records. The Director General may make requisition of the services of any police officer or any officer of the Central Government to assist him for all or any of the purposes specified in sub-section (10) and it shall be the duty of every such officer to comply with such requisition. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Delhi may, after considering the application and hearing from the Director General, by order, authorise the Director General- to enter, with such assistance, as may be required, the place or places where such information, books, papers, other documents or records are kept; to search that place or places in the manner specified in the order; and to seize information, books, papers, other documents or records as it considers necessary for the purpose of the investigation: Provided that certified copies of the seized information, books, papers, other documents or records, as the case may be, may be provided to the party or person from whose place or places such documents have been seized at its cost. The Director General shall keep in his custody such information, books, papers, other documents or records seized under this section for such period not later than the conclusion of the investigation as it considers necessary and thereafter shall return the same to the party or person from whose custody or power they were seized and inform the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, of such return: Provided that the Director General may, before returning such information, books, papers, other documents or records take copies of, or extracts thereof or place identification marks on them or any part thereof. Save as otherwise provided in this section, every search or seizure made under this section shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, relating to search or seizure made under that Code.