Offences by companies.

1. (1) Where an 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 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.

1. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where any such offence has been committed by a company and it is proved, that this 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

Company such Director, Manager, Secretary or other officer shall deemed to

be guilty of that offences and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Explanation. – For the purposes of this section,-

1. (a) “Company” means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals: and
2. (b) “Director” in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm.