(1) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a stockist, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was in charge of the business of the stockist and was responsible to the stockist for the conduct of the business of the stockist as well the stockist, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be proceeded against and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment provided under 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 the offence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offence under this Act has been committed by a stockist, being a company 1 of 1956.
within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1956, 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, as the case may be, 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.