Offences by companies

(1) Whereas offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who at the time the offence 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 offence 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 offence was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where any offence under the Companies Act, 1956 has been committed by the textile company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the said textile company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.