Penalty.

(1) Whoever, fails to comply with, or acts in contravention of, any provision of this Act shall be deemed to commit an offence under this Act, and shall, on conviction, be punished,- (a) in the case of a contravention of the provisions of section 3 or 20, with penalty which may extend to Rs. 10,000; (b) in any other case with fine which may extend to Rs. 1,000. (2) (a) Where an offence under sub-section (1) is committed by a company, the company, as well as every person in charge of, and responsible to, the company for the conduct of its business at the time of the commission of the offence shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly: Provided that, nothing contained in this clause shall render any such person liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence. (b) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (a), where an offence under sub-section (1) has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or that the commission of the offence is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any Director, Manager, Secretary or other officer of the company, such Director, Manager, Secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section,- (i) a company means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and (ii) “director” in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm.