If an offence punishable under this Act is committed at any time by a company every person who is in charge of and responsible to the company for the conduct of its business at the time of the commission of the offence and the company shall be deemed to be responsible for the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Provided that where any offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the commission of the offence is with the consent and connivance or attributable to any neglect on the part of any Director, manager, Secretary of other officer of the company such Director, Manager, Secretary of other officers shall be deemed to be responsible for 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 or individuals; and
(b) ‘Director’ in relation to a firm means the partner in the firm