Coinage Act, 2011
16. 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 its business, 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 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 any 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, such director,
manager, secretary or other officer of the company 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
anybody corporate and includes a firm, society or other association of
individuals; and
b. “director”, in
relation to -
i.
a
firm, means a partner or proprietor of the firm;
ii.
a
society or other association of individuals, means the person who is entrusted,
under the rules of the society or other association, with the management of the
affairs of the society or other association of the individuals, as the case may
be.