EPA / OFFENCES AND PENALTIES/ Offences by companies

Offences by companies

Persons liable in general cases

Where any offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was directly in charge of, and was responsible to the company for the conduct of its business, including 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.

Liability in case of offence with willful connivance / neglect

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 deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Explanation--For the purpose of this section,--
(a) "company" means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals;
(b) "director", in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.