Offences by companies. — (1) Where an offense under this Act has been

62. Offences by companies. — (1) Where an offense under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who, at the time the offense was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to the company for the conduct of the business of the company as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offense and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly: Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment if he proves that the offense was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such an offense. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in subsection (1) where any offense under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offense has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part, of any director, manager, secretary or another officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or another officer shall also be deemed be guilty of that offense and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. Explanation. —for the purposes of this section, (a) “Company” means a body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and (b) “Director”, in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.