(1) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a Company, the company as well as every person in charge of and responsible to the company for the conduct of its business at the time of commission of the offence, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence 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 exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section
(1), where an offence under this Act has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or that commission of the offence is attributable to any neglect on the part of any Director, Manager, Secretary or other Officer, such Director, Manager, Secretary or other Officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Explanation: For the purpose of this section-
(a) “Company” means a company as defined in the Companies Act, 2013, and includes any foreign company;
(b) “Director” in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm.