Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969
53. 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 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 that offence 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.