law: Cigarettes (Regulations of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1975
  18.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 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 neglect
  
  on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the
  
  company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall 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.