(1) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who at the time the offence was committed was incharge 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.
Section 29 Offences, Section 30 Cognizance of offences
Section 30A Power of adjudicating authority to impose penalty
Section 30B Appeal against penalties, Section 30C Appellate Authority
Section 30D Recovery of penalties
Section 31 Provisions of this Act not to apply in certain cases
Section 31A Power to exempt a class or classes of banks or financial institutions
Section 32 Protection of action taken in good faith
Section 33 Offences by companies
Section Limitation, Section 37 Application of other laws not barred