Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
(1) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company or professionals or a firm, 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 or concerned professionals or firms 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 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 Act has been committed by a company or professionals or firms 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, professional or other officer of the company or professionals or firms, such Director, Manager, Secretary, professional or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly and as per the punishments mentioned in this Chapter. Explanation: For the purposes of this section,- (i) ‘company’ means a body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and (ii) ‘Director’, in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.