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the company, shall be guilty of the contravention
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 punishment
if he proves that the contravention took place
without his knowledge or that he exercised all due
diligence to prevent such contravention.
(2)
Notwithstanding
anything
contained
in
sub-section (1), where a contravention of any of the
provisions of this Act or of any rule, direction or
order made thereunder has been committed by a
company and it is proved that the contravention has
taken place 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
contravention and shall be liable to be proceeded
against and punished accordingly.”
7.
Interpreting the same, the Court opined thus:“64. Keeping in view the anatomy of the aforesaid
provision, our analysis pertaining to Section 141 of
the Act would squarely apply to the 2000
enactment. Thus adjudged, the Director could not
have been held liable for the offence under Section
85 of the 2000 Act. Resultantly, Criminal Appeal
No. 1483 of 2009 is allowed and the proceeding
against the appellant is quashed. As far as the
Company is concerned, it was not arraigned as an
accused. Ergo, the proceeding as initiated in the
existing incarnation is not maintainable either
against the company or against the Director. As a
logical sequitur, the appeals are allowed and the
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