32. Liability of certain persons in respect of offences committed by bodies of persona,

Where an offence under 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; or

if that body of persons is a firm, every person who at the time of the commission of the offence was a partner of the firm, shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence unless he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or connivance and that he exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he ought to have exercised having regard to the nature of his functions and all the circumstances.