Section 9. Offences by companies

CHAPTER III MISCELLANEOUS 8. Penalties. -Any person who,- (a) having in his possession or custody or under his control any property forming part of the society, wrongfully withholds such property from the Administrator or any person authorised under this Act, or (b) wrongfully obtains possession of any such property, or (c) wilfully retains, or fails to deliver, any property forming part of the society or removes or destroys it, or (d) wilfully withholds or fails to account for any books, papers, works of art or other documents which may be in his possession or custody or under his control to the Administrator or any person authorised under this Act, or (e) fails, without any reasonable cause, to furnish information or particulars as provided in sub-section (6) of section 4, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees, or with both. 9. 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 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 section shall render any such person liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence 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 any 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 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 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.