Section 137 - Offences by companies of CGST ACT, 2017

                 137. (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.