Offence by companies.
(1) Where an offence against any of the provisions of
this Act or any rule made thereunder 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 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 in sub-section (1) where
any such offence has been committed by a 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 company, such director, manager, secretary or other
officer shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall
be liable to be proceeded against and punished
accordingly.
Explanation - For the purpose of this section,-
(a) "company" means any body corporate and
includes a firm, a society or other association of individuals,
and
(b) "director" in relation to-
(i) a firm, means a partner in the firm;
(ii) a society or other association of individuals means
the person who is entrusted, under the rules of the society
or other association, with the management of the affairs of
the society or other association as the case may be.