The Spices Board Act,1986
Section 31. Offences by companies
(1) Where an offences under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who at the time the offences 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 offences 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 offences was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offences.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offences under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offences 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 offences 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.
