Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011
19. 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 provided in this Act, if he proves
that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he has 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.