ISSUE:
Whether a company or a corporate body could be prosecuted for offences under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (FERA) for which the sentence of imprisonment is a mandatory punishment and fine, even though a company cannot be subjected to imprisonment.
RULE:
A company is liable to be prosecuted and punished for criminal offences.
When the custodial sentence and fine are the prescribed mode of punishment, the court can impose the sentence of fine on a company which is found guilty as the sentence of imprisonment is impossible to be carried out.
Section 56 of the Act provides for imposition of minimum prescribed sentence of imprisonment wherever possible and also fine. Such a construction of the provisions of Section 56 of the Act to make it workable cannot be said to be a construction impermissible only because the statute under construction is a penal statute.