72. APPLICATIONS FOR, AND ALLOTMENT OF, SHARES AND DEBENTURES

(1) (a) No allotment shall be made of any shares in or debentures of a company in pursuance of a prospectus issued generally, and no proceedings shall be taken on applications made in pursuance of a prospectus so issued, until the beginning of the fifth day after that on which the prospectus is first so issued or such later time, if any, as may be specified in the prospectus :

Provided that where, after a prospectus is first issued generally, a public notice is given by some person responsible under section 62 for the prospectus which has the effect of excluding, limiting or diminishing his responsibility, no allotment shall be made until the beginning of the fifth day after that on which such public notice is first given.

(b) Nothing in the foregoing proviso shall be deemed to exclude, limit or diminish any liability that might be incurred in the case referred to therein under the general law or this Act.

(c) The beginning of the fifth day or such later time as is mentioned in the first paragraph of clause (a), or the beginning of the fifth day mentioned in the second paragraph of that clause, as the case may be, is hereinafter in this Act referred to as "the time of the opening of the subscription lists".

(2) In sub-section (1), the reference to the day on which the prospectus is first issued generally shall be construed as referring to the day on which it is first so issued as a newspaper advertisement :

Provided that, if it is not so issued as a newspaper advertisement before the fifth day after that on which it is first so issued in any other manner, the said reference shall be construed as referring to the day on which it is first so issued in any manner.

(3) The validity of an allotment shall not be affected by any contravention of the foregoing provisions of this section ; but, in the event of any such contravention, the company, and every officer of the company who is in default, shall be punishable with fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.

(4) In the application of this section to a prospectus offering shares or debentures for sale, sub-sections (1) to (3) shall have effect with the substitution of references to sale for references to allotment, and with the substitution for the reference to the company and every officer of the company who is in default of a reference to any person by or through whom the offer is made and who is knowingly guilty of, or wilfully authorises or permits, the contravention.

(5) An application for shares in, or debentures of, a company, which is made in pursuance of a prospectus issued generally shall not be revocable until after the expiration of the fifth day after the time of the opening of the subscription lists, or the giving, before the expiry of the said fifth day by some person responsible under section 62 for the prospectus, of a public notice having the effect under that section of excluding, limiting or diminishing the responsibility of the person giving it.