Offences by companies

If 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.

The provisions of sub-section (1) shall not apply if the person referred in the said sub-section proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.

If it is proved that an offence under this Act has been committed by a company 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, then irrespective of the provisions of sub-section (1), 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.

Where an offence committed by a company under this Act is punishable with imprisonment and fine, then, without prejudice to the provisions contained in sub-section (1) or (3), such company shall be punished with fine and every person referred to in sub-section (1), or the director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company referred to in sub-section (3), shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as per the provisions of this Act.