CHAPTER V
PENALTY
20. Offences Whoever contravenes or attempts to contravene
or abets the contravention of the provisions of this Act or
any regulations or bye-laws made thereunder shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to
five years, or with fine, or with both.
21. 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 purpose 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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