7. Offence, penalty and forfeiture:

(5) Where a question arises whether a person was duly informed of an order made in pursuance of this section, compliance with the requirements of sub-section (4) shall be conclusive proof that he was so informed; but failure to comply with the said requirements shall not preclude proof by other means that he was so informed or affect the validity of the order.

(6) Any order made under this section shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any enactment other than this Act or by any instrument having effect by virtue of any enactment other than this Act.

(7) Where an order purports to have been made and signed by an authority in exercise of any power conferred by this section, a court shall within the meaning of Indian Evidence Act, 1872, presume that such order was so made by that authority.

7. Offence, penalty and forfeiture:

1. Whoever contravenes any provisions of this Act or any order made thereunder or any term or condition of any licence or permit granted or issued under an order made under this Act, shall on conviction, be punished with imprisonment of either description which may extend to one year or with fine.
2. Any court trying such contravention may direct that any stock of molasses, in respect of which the court is satisfied that the contravention has taken place, shall, along with any box, receptacle, package or covering containing such stock of molasses, be forfeited to the State Government.

8. Offences by companies:

1. Where an offence under this Act has been committed by 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 the business of the company, as well as company shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

   Provided that nothing contained in this sub-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 exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.

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 attributed to any neglect on the part of any director, the director shall also be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Explanation—for the purposes of this section—

1. 'company' means a body corporate, and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and
2. 'director' in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm.

9. Cognizance of offences:

1. (a) No court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Act, except with the previous sanction of ¹[the Commissioner]¹.
2. (b) No court inferior to that of a ²[Metropolitan Magistrate]² or a Magistrate of the first Class shall try any offence punishable under this Act.
3. (c) Notwithstanding anything contained in ³[the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973]³, an offence punishable under this Act shall be cognizable and bailable.