Service Tax 1994
81. Offences by Companies.
(1) Where an offence under this Chapter 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 Chapter, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge
and 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 Chapter 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 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 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.