Offences by
companies.
32.
(1) If the person committing an offence under this Act is 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 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
such 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 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 negligence 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 a 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.