Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940
34. 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, company, 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 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 otter association of individuals; and
(b) "director" in relation to a firm means a partner in
the firm.