( l) Where an offence under th1c; Act has been committed by a company, every person \\ ho) at the t1mc the offence was comrn1tted, "'as in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company a~ "'ell as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be hable to be pro(eeded against and punished accordingly :
0 \ D r ' .r' 0 59
Provided that nothing contained in this subsection shall render any auch 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 contained in subsection (1), where any 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, cecretary or other officer, such director, manager, secretary or othei officer shall be deemed to be guiJty of that offence and sltall be liable.to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Explanation.-For the purposes of this section,-
(a) {b) " company , means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals ; and ''director,, in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.
CHAPTER IV Miscellaneous :l:Z. Exenlplions.-(1) Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to survey vessels belonging to the Central Government or any State Govern· ment or nuy public undertaking.
(2) Jf the Government are of the opinion that, having regard to the purposes of this Act, it would not be in the public interest to apply all or nny of the provisions of this Act to any class rr classes of fishing vessels used for fishing 1n any specified area or specified areas, they may, by notification in the Gazette, exempt, subject to such conditions as they n1ay think fit to in1pose, such class or classes of fishing vessels used for fishing 1n such specified area or specified areas, as they may specif'f in the notifi~~ation, from the operation of all or any of the provisions o this Act.