33.
Offences by companies.- (1) Where 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, and
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 provided in this Act,
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 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 the 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.
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