The Competition Act, 2002
48. Contravention by
companies.-
1.
Where
a person committing contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or of
any rule, regulation, order made or direction issued there under is a company,
every person who, at the time the contravention 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
contravention 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 contravention
was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence
to prevent the commission of such contravention.
2.
Notwithstanding
anything contained in sub-section (1), where a contravention of any of the
provisions of this Act or of any rule, regulation, order made or direction
issued there under has been committed by a company and it is proved that the
contravention has taken place 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 guilt y of that contravention and shall be
liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. Explanation.-For the
purposes of this section,-
a. "company"
means a 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.