Section 701 of The Companies Act No. 17 of 2015: Restrictions on disclosure of information obtained under compulsory powers
(1) This section applies to information obtained in accordance with a requirement or order under section 700 that relates to the private affairs of a natural person or to any particular business.
(2) A person in possession of information to which this section applies shall not, during the lifetime of the person concerned or so long as that business continues to be carried on, disclose the information without the consent of that person or the person who is carrying on that business.
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply—
(a) to disclosure permitted by section 702; or
(b) to the disclosure of information that is or has been available to the public from another source.
(4) A person who discloses information in contravention of subsection (2) commits an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine not exceeding one million shillings.
(5) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (4), it is a defence to establish (on a balance of probabilities) that the defendant—
(a) did not know, and had no reason to suspect, that the information had been obtained in accordance with a requirement or order under section 700; or
(b) took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.
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