26. Penalty for failure to comply with orders of Tribunal.—-(1) Whoever, fails to comply with
any order or award or decision of the Tribunal under this Act, he shall be punishable with imprisonment
for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to ten crore rupees, or with
both and in case the failure or contravention continues, with additional fine which may extend to twentyfive thousand rupees for every day during which such failure or contravention continues after conviction
for the first such failure or contravention:
Provided that in case a company fails to comply with any order or award or a decision of the Tribunal
under this Act, such company shall be punishable with fine which may extend to twenty-five crore rupees,
and in case the failure or contravention continues, with additional fine which may extend to one lakh
rupees for every day during which such failure or contravention continues after conviction for the first
such failure or contravention.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) every
offence under this Act shall be deemed to be non-cognizable within the meaning of the said Code.
27. Offences by companies.—-(1) 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 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 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 had 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 the 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 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.
28. Offences by Government Department.—-(1) Where any Department of the Government fails to
comply with any order or award or decision of the Tribunal under this Act, the Head of the Department
shall be deemed to be guilty of such failure and shall be liable to be proceeded against for having
committed an offence under this Act and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing contained in this section shall render such Head of the Department liable to any
punishment 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.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offence under this Act has been
committed by a Department of the Government 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 officer, other than the
Head of the Department, such officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable
to be proceeded against and punished accordingly