(1) The Central Government may, by notification, direct that all or any of the powers exercisable by it under this Ordinance, other than those under this section or section 8 or section 20 may also be exercised by any person or persons as may be specified in the notification.
Protection of action taken in good faith.
Delegation of powers.
508 THE,GAZRTTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [PART II- Debts incurred for the purposes of notified sugar undertakings to have priority.
(2) Whenever any delegation of power is made under sub-section {1), the person to whom such power has been delegated shall act under the direction, control and supervision of the Central Government.
15. Every debt arising out of any loan advanced to a notified sugar undertaking by the Central Government or a State Government for carrying on the management of such undertaking—
(a) shall have priority over all other debts, whether secured or unsecured, incurred before the management of such undertaking was taken over under this Ordinance;
(b) shall be a preferential debt within the meaning of section 530 of the Companies Act, 1956, and such debts shall rank equal among themselves and be paid in full out of the assets of the undertaking unless such assets are insufficient to meet them, in which case they shall abate in equal proportions.
16. If any person—
(a) fails to deliver to the Custodian any assets, books of account, registers or any other documents in his custody relating to any notified sugat undertaking, or
(fa) retains any property of such undertaking or removes or destroys it, or
(c) fails to comply with the provisions of section 5, or
(d) fails to comply with any direction made under this Ordinance, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
17. (?) 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 shall be deemed to be guilty of the oifence 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.
(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, 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.
Penalties.
Offences by companies.
1 of 1956.
Sic. 1} THE GAZETTE OF INDIA 'EXTRAORDINARY 509
Explanation—For the purposes of this section,—
(a) "company" means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and
(b) "director", in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.