Where any offence has been committed by a company, every person who at the time the offence was committed was in charge of and was responsible, for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence as above and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished in accordance with the provisions of this Act:
Provided that nothing contained in this section shall render any such person liable to any punishment provided in this Act if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such violation of statutory provisions or the conditions of the License:
Provided further that notwithstanding anything contained in the first proviso to this section, where 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 officer of the Company, he shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be punished in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
Explanation: For the purpose of this section: Director in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm.