Companies Act Section 451 — Punishment in case of repeated default

CHAPTER XXIX MISCELLANEOUS

Commercial / Corporate

Summary

If a company or one of its officers commits an offence that is punishable by a fine or imprisonment, and the exact same offence is committed again on a second or later occasion within three years, then the company and every officer who is in default will face a fine that is double the amount normally prescribed for that offence. This doubled fine is in addition to any imprisonment that the law already provides for the original offence.

Official Text

If a company or an officer of a company commits an offence punishable either with fine or with imprisonment and where the same offence is committed for the second or subsequent occasions within a period of three years, then, that company and every officer thereof who is in default shall be punishable with twice the amount of fine for such offence in addition to any imprisonment provided for that offence.