Offences by management, institutions and others

(1) When an offence under this Act is comnmitted by any management or institution or limited liability partnership firm or service provider contracted or ordered for examination and others, every person who at the time the offence was committed was in charge of the business of the management or institution or limited liability partnership firm or service provider contracted or ordered for the examination and others, or was responsible for the conduct of the business of the management or institution or limited liability partnership firm or other, as well as the service provider contracted or orderéd for the examination by the management or institution or limited liability partnership firm or other, shall also be deemed to be guilty of the offence and action shall be taken against him and shall be punished accordingly: Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render such person liable to any punishment under this Act, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge and that he exercised due care and diligence to prevent the commission of the offence. (2) Management, institutions and individuals who circulate and publish false, misleading and false information and complaints in relation to examinations and question papers and answer keys related to examinations, shall be deemed guilty of offence and action shall be taken action against him and shall be punished accordingly. Explanation: The complaint or objection made in good faith by the examinee in relation to the question paper before the examination authority or the in-charge of the exanination center shall not be considered as an offence committed by the examinee under the said section. (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub section (1), where an offence under this section has been committed by any management; or institution or limited liability partnership fim or other and it is proved that the offence yas committed by the management or institution, or limited liability partnership firm with the consent or connivance of, or any neglect on the part of, any director, partner, manager, secretary or other officer of the partnership:or service provider or other, such director, partner, manager, secretary or other officer shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and action shall be taken against him and shall be punished accordingly. (4) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a company engaged in the conduct of any competitive examination, every person who at the time when offence was committed was incharge 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 action shall be taken against him and shall be punished accordingly. Explanation- for the purpose of this section "Company" means anybody/corporate and includes a firm or other association of the individual.