Section 177 & 397 IPC vs. Section 234 of Companies Act

I still remember this one from AIBE last year - it had a lot of students scratching their heads. Question was - a company commits fraud with its shareholders and in the process, also commits an offence under IPC, specifically Section 397 (cheating by personation). Can we prosecute the company under both IPC and Companies Act? Simple question, but the answer is quite nuanced. You see, Section 177 of IPC says that a person can't be prosecuted under both IPC and any special Act for the same offence. But Section 234 of Companies Act says it doesn't apply to the Companies Act. So, the correct approach is to understand what all these sections say, and then think about the principles of criminal law, and then finally the specific provisions of the Companies Act.