Section 487 — Offences by companies

(1) If 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.
(2) The provisions of sub-section (1) shall not apply if the person referred therein
proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he had exer-
cised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
(3) Irrespective of anything contained in sub-sections (1) and (2), where an 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 ne-
glect 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.
(4) If an offence under this Act has been committed by a company and the
punishment for such offence is imprisonment and fine, then, without prejudice to
the provisions contained in sub-section (1) or (3), such company shall be punished
with fine and every person referred to in sub-section (1), or the director, manager,
secretary or other officer of the company referred to in sub-section (3), shall be liable
to be proceeded against and punished as per the provisions of this Act.
(5) For the purposes of this section,—
( a) “company” means a body corporate and includes—
( i) a firm; and
( ii) an association of persons or a body of individuals, whether incor-
porated or not; and
( b) “director”, in relation to—
( i) a firm, means a partner in the firm;
( ii) any association of persons or a body of individuals, means any
member controlling the affairs thereof.
30. Substituted for “rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months
but which may extend to seven years, and with fine” by the Finance Act, 2026, w.e.f. 1-4-2026.