(1) Any person, who—
(a) having in his possession, custody or control any property forming part of the undertaking oi' the company wrongfully withholds such property from the Custodian or any person authorised under this Ordinance, or
(fa) wrongfully obtains possession of any such property, or
(c) wilfully retains any property of the undertaking of the company or removes or destroys it, or
(d) wilfully withholds or fails to deliver any books, papers or other documents which may be in his possession or under his control to the Custodian or any person authorised under this Ordinance, or
(e) fails, without reasonable cause, to furnish information or particulars as provided in sub-section (5) of section 4.
shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees, or with both.
(2) No court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under this section except with the previous sanction of the Central Government or of an officer authorised by the Central Government in this behalf.
7. (I) Where an offence under this Ordinance 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 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.
Payment <->1 amount to the company.
Penalties.
Offences by companies.
SEC. 1] THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY 19
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where any offence under this Ordinance 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.
Explana.tion.~For the purposes of this section,—
(u) '"company" means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and
(h) "director", in relation to a lirm. means a partner in the firm, 8 No proceeding lor the appointment of a Receiver in respect of the business of the company in so far as it relates to its undertaking, shall lie in any court exrept with the consent of the Central Government.
9. In computing the period of limitation prescribed by law for the time being in force for any suiT or application against any person by the company in respect of any matter aris;n<,; out of anv transaction in relation to the undertaking of the company, the time during which this Ordinance is in force shall be excluded,
10. The provisions of this (Ordinance or any notification, order or rule made thereunder shall have fjff:Lct notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any law other than this Ordinance or in any instrument having ettect by virtue ol any law oilier than this Ordinance or in any decree or order of any couit.