THE CENTRAL GOODS AND SERVICES TAX ACT, 2017
OFFENCES AND PENALTIES
Section 137:
Offences by
companies
(1) Where an offence committed by a person under this Act is 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 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) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), 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 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.
(3) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a taxable person
being a partnership firm or a Limited Liability Partnership or a Hindu
undivided family or a trust, the partner or karta or
managing trustee shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be
liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly and the provisions of
sub-section (2) shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to such persons.
(4) Nothing contained in this 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.
Explanation.––For
the purposes of this section,––
(i) “company” means a body corporate and includes a firm or other association
of individuals; and
(ii) “director”, in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.