(1) When an offence under this Act is committed by a company or institution or establishment or society, every person who at the time of the commission of such offence was in charge of and responsible for the business of the company or institution or establishment or society shall be deemed to have committed such offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall render any person liable to punishment, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where any offence under this Act has been committed by a company or establishment or institution or society and it is proved that an offence under this Act 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 employees 17 This is a digitally signed Gazette.
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Explanation:—For the purpose of this section,—
(a) “company or establishment or institution or society” means any body corporate including a firm, society or other association of individuals and
(b) “director” means
(i) in relation to a firm, a partner in the firm;
(ii) in relation to a society or other association of individuals, a person who is entrusted, under the rules of the society or other associations for the management of the affairs of the society or association, as the case may be.