Section 155: Liability of principals

Any person who authorises an agent to act for him in relation to any goods for any of the purposes of the customs and excise laws shall be liable for the acts and declarations of his agent, and may accordingly be prosecuted for any offence against the customs and excise laws committed by the agent in respect of any such goods in the same manner as if he had himself committed the offence:
Provided that-
(i) in any prosecution for such offence, it shall be a good defence for such person to prove that he had used due diligence to secure compliance with the provisions of the customs and excise laws, as the case may be, and the offence was committed without his consent, connivance or wilful default; and
(ii) nothing contained in this section shall relieve the agent from liability to prosecution for any offence under the customs and excise laws.