19. Liability of certain persons in respect of offences committed by bodies corporate

Where an offence under the provisions of this Act is committed by a body of persons, then if that body of persons is a body corporate, every person who at the time of the commission of the offence was a director, general manager, secretary or other similar officer of that body corporate shall be deemed to have committed that offence unless he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or connivance and that he exercised having regard to the nature of his functions and in all the circumstances all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.