(1) If the person committing an offence under this Act is a company, the company as well as every person in charge of, and responsible to the company for the conduct of its business at the time of commission of the offence shall be ---22--- deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing 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 exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or that the commission of the offence 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 also 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 or other association of individuals; and
(b) ‘Director’ in relation to firm means a partner in the firm.