Section 5 in The Jammu and Kashmir Forest (Conservation) Act, 1997
5. Offences by authorities and Government Department.
(1)Where any offence under this Act has been committed -(a)by any department of Government, the Plead of the Department; or(b)by any authority, every person who, at the time of offences was committed, was directly incharge of and was responsible to the authority for the conduct of the business of the authority as well as the authority, 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 the Head of the Department, or any person referred to in clause (b) liable to any punishment 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 punishable under this Act has been committed by a Department of Government or any authority referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (1) and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any officer, other than the Head of the Department or in the case of any authority, any person other than the persons referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (1) such officer or persons shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
