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 and was
responsible to the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the
1. Subs. by Act 68 of 1982, s. 2, for certain words (w.e.f. 1-2-1983).
2. Ins. by s. 35, ibid. (w.e.f. 1-2-1983).
3. Subs. by s. 35, ibid., for cl.
(f) (w.e.f. 1-2-1983).
4. Ins. by s. 35, ibid. (w.e.f 1-2-1983).
5. Ins. by Act 26 of 2008 s. 18 (w.e.f. 10-8-2009).
6. Subs. by Act 11 of 1955, s. 16, for s. 34.
7. Ins. by Act 35 of 1960, s. 11 (w.e.f. 16-3-1961).
8. S. 33A re-numbered as s. 33P by Act 13 of 1964, s. 27 (w.e.f. 15-9-1964).
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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 offen ce 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 o ther
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 other association of individuals;
and
(b) “director” in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm.
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