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
2(17)
“business” includes––
(a) any trade, commerce, manufacture, profession, vocation, adventure, wager or any other similar activity, whether or not it is for a pecuniary benefit;
(b) any activity or transaction in connection with or incidental or ancillary to sub-clause (a);
(c) any activity or transaction in the nature of sub-clause (a), whether or not there is volume, frequency, continuity or regularity of such transaction;
(d) supply or acquisition of goods including capital goods and services in connection with commencement or closure of business;
(e) provision by a club, association, society, or any such body (for a subscription or any other consideration) of the facilities or benefits to its members;
(f) admission, for a consideration, of persons to any premises;
(g) services supplied by a person as the holder of an office which has been accepted by him in the course or furtherance of his trade, profession or vocation;
(h) activities of a race club including by way of totalisator or a license to book maker or activities of a licensed book maker in such club; and
(i) any activity or transaction undertaken by the Central Government, a State Government or any local authority in which they are engaged as public authorities;
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.