Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Offences by companies.―(1) If the person committing an offence under this Act or any rules made thereunder 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 the business of 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, 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 any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, 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. Explanation.―For the purposes of this section,― (a) “company” means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; (b) “director” in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm. 1[23A. Compounding of offences.―(1) Any offence punishable under this Act or any rule made thereunder may, either before or after the institution of the prosecution, be compounded by the person authorised under section 22 to make a complaint to the court with respect to that offence, on payment to that person, for credit to the Government, of such sum as that person may specify: Provided that in the case of an offence punishable with fine only, no such sum shall exceed the maximum amount of fine which may be imposed for that offence. (2) Where an offence is compounded under sub-section (1), no proceeding or further proceeding, as the case may be, shall be taken against the offender in respect of the offence so compounded, and the offender, if in custody, shall be released forthwith.] 2[23B. Power to search.―If any gazetted officer of the Central or a State Government authorised by the Central Government 3[or a State Government, as the case may be,] in this behalf by genera! or special order has reason to believe that any mineral has been raised in contravention of the provisions of this Act or rules made thereunder or any document or thing in relation to such mineral is secreted in any place 3[or vehicle], he may search for such mineral, document or thing and the provisions of section 100 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), shall apply to every such search.] 4[23C. Power of State Government to make rules for preventing illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals.―(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for preventing illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals and for the purposes connected therewith. (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:― (a) establishment of check-posts for checking of minerals under transit; (b) establishment of weigh-bridges to measure the quantity of mineral being transported; (c) regulation of mineral being transported from the area granted under a prospecting licence or a mining lease or a quarrying licence or a permit, in whatever name the permission to excavate minerals, has been given; (d) inspection, checking and search of minerals at the place of excavation or storage or during transit; (e) maintenance of registers and forms for the purposes of these rules;