16. Penalty for contravention of provisions of this Act.—(1) Whoever contravenes any of the
provisions of this Act shall be liable,—
(a) for the first contravention with advisory, or censure, or warning, or a penalty which may
extend to twenty thousand rupees, or with both;
(b) for every subsequent contravention within a period of three years, with advisory, or censure,
or warning, or a penalty which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both,
by such designated officer, as may be prescribed.
(2) The designated officer, may, for the reasons to be recorded in writing, by order, impose penalty
referred to in sub-section (1):
Provided that in cases of more than three contraventions over a period of three years, the designated
officer, in addition to penalty referred to in sub-section (1), may, for the reasons to be recorded in writing,
by order, suspend or revoke the registration granted:
Provided further that no order by the designated officer under this sub-section shall be made without
giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
(3) Whoever aggrieved by the order made under sub-section (2), may prefer an appeal to the
Secretary to the Government of India or such other officer authorised by him:
Provided that no such appeal shall be admissible after the expiry of thirty days from the date of
receipt of such order:
Provided further that an appeal may be entertained after the expiry of the period of thirty days, if he is
satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from preferring the appeal in time.]
17. 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
1. Subs. by Act 18 of 2023, s. 2 and the Schedule, for CHAPTER IV (w.e.f. 3-10-2023).
9
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, 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 negligence 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 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.
18. Cognizance of offences.—No court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this
Act except upon a complaint in writing made 1
[by any authorised officer].