Section 26E. Transitional provisions

26E. Transitional provisions. —Any offence committed under this Act, which is triable by a Special Court shall, until a Special Court is established, be taken cognizance of and tried by a Court of Session exercising jurisdiction over the area, notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974): Provided that nothing contained in this section shall affect the powers of the High Court under section 407 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) to transfer any case or class of cases taken cognizance by a Court of Session under this section.] 27.[4] [Contravention by companies]. —(1) Where[5] [a contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or any rule, regulation, direction or order made thereunder] has been committed by a company, every person who at the time the[6] [contravention] 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[6] [contravention] and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly: 1. The words "with the previous sanction of the Central Government" omitted by Act 9 of 1995, s. 14 (w.e.f. 25-1-1995). 2. Sub-section (2) omitted by Act 27 of 2014, s. 19 (w.e.f. 18-7-2013). 3. Ins. by s. 20, ibid. (w.e.f. 18-7-2013). 4. Subs. by Act 13 of 2018, s. 188, for marginal heading (w.e.f. 8-3-2019). 5. Subs. by s. 188, ibid ., for "an offence under this Act" (w.e.f. 8-3-2019). 6. Subs. by s. 188, ibid ., for "offence" (w.e.f. 8-3-2019). 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[1] [contravention] was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an[1] [contravention] under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the[1] [contravention] 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 the[1] [contravention] 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. 28. [ Power to exempt .] Omitted by the Securities Laws (Amendment) Act, 1995 (9 of 1995), s . 15 ( w.e.f. 25-1-1995).