(1) Whenever an offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who at the time the offence was committed was in charge of, or was responsible to the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company, 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 under this Act if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge and 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 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 of the company, 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 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.
58. Any person who obstructs the entry of a person authorised under section 44 to enter into or upon any land or building or molests such person after such entry or who obstructs the lawful exercise by him of any power conferred by or under this Act shall, on conviction, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.
134 The West Bengal Industrial Infra-structure Development Corporation Act, 1974.
XXV of 1974.]
(Chapter Vu —Supplementary and miscellaneous provisions.—Section 59.)