CODE FOR INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS

CODE FOR INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS
[As per Schedule IV of the Companies Act, 2013 “the Act”]

The Code is a guide to professional conduct for Independent Directors. Adherence to these standards by
Independent Directors and fulfillment of their responsibilities in a professional and faithful mannerwill promote
confidence of the investment community, particularly minority shareholders, regulators and companies in the
institution of Independent Directors.
I. Guidelines of professional conduct:
An Independent Director shall:
1. uphold ethical standards of integrity and probity;
2. act objectively and constructively while exercising his duties;
3. exercise his responsibilities in a bona fide manner in the interest of the Company;
4. devote sufficient time and attention to his professional obligations for informed and balanced decision
making;
5. not allow any extraneous considerations that will vitiate his exercise of objective Independent judgment in
the paramount interest of the Company as a whole, while concurring in or dissenting from the collective
judgment of the Board in its decision making;
6. not abuse his position to the detriment of the Company or its shareholders or for the purpose of gaining direct
or indirect personal advantage or advantage for any associated person;
7. refrain from any action that would lead to loss of his independence;
8. where circumstances arise which make an Independent Director lose his independence, the Independent
Director must immediately inform the Board accordingly;
9. assist the Company in implementing the best corporate governance practices.
II. Role and functions:
The Independent Directors shall:
1. help in bringing an Independent judgment to bear on the Board’s deliberations especially on issues of
strategy, performance, risk management, resources, key appointments and standards of conduct;
2. bring an objective view in the evaluation of the performance of board and management;
3. scrutinize the performance of management in meeting agreed goals and objectives and monitorthe
reporting of performance;
4. satisfy themselves on the integrity of financial information and that financial controls and thesystems
of risk management are robust and defensible;
5. safeguard the interests of all stakeholders, particularly the minority shareholders;
6. balance the conflicting interest of the stakeholders;
7. determine appropriate levels of remuneration of executive Directors, key managerial personneland senior
management and have a prime role in appointing and where necessary recommend removal of executive
Directors, key managerial personnel and senior management;
8. moderate and arbitrate in the interest of the Company as a whole, in situations of conflict betweenmanagement
and shareholder’s interest.
III. Duties:
The Independent Directors shall:
1. undertake appropriate induction and regularly update and refresh their skills, knowledge and familiarity with
the Company;
2. seek appropriate clarification or amplification of information and, where necessary, take and follow
appropriate professional advice and opinion of outside experts at the expense of the Company;

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3. strive to attend all meetings of the Board of Directors and of the Board committees of which he isa
member;
4. participate constructively and actively in the committees of the Board in which they arechairpersons or
members;
5. strive to attend the general meetings of the Company;
6. where they have concerns about the running of the Company or a proposed action, ensure that these are
addressed by the Board and, to the extent that they are not resolved, insist that their concerns are recorded in
the minutes of the Board meeting;
7. keep themselves well informed about the Company and the external environment in which it operates;
8. not to unfairly obstruct the functioning of an otherwise proper Board or committee of the Board;
9. pay sufficient attention and ensure that adequate deliberations are held before approving related party
transactions and assure themselves that the same are in the interest of the Company;
10. ascertain and ensure that the Company has an adequate and functional vigil mechanism and to ensure that the
interests of a person who uses such mechanism are not prejudicially affected on account of such use;
11. report concerns about unethical behaviour, actual or suspected fraud or violation of the Company’s code of
conduct or ethics policy;
12. act within their authority, assist in protecting the legitimate interests of the Company, shareholders and its
employees;
13. not disclose confidential information, including commercial secrets, technologies, advertising and sales
promotion plans, unpublished price sensitive information, unless such disclosure is expressly approved by
the Board or required by law.
IV. Manner of appointment:
1. Appointment process of independent directors shall be independent of the company management; while
selecting independent directors the Board shall ensure that there is appropriate balance of skills, experience
and knowledge in the Board so as to enable the Board to discharge its functions and duties effectively.
2. The appointment of independent director(s) of the company shall be approved at the meeting of the
shareholders.
3. The explanatory statement attached to the notice of the meeting for approving the appointment of independent
director shall include a statement that in the opinion of the Board, the independent director proposed to be
appointed fulfils the conditions specified in the Act and the rules made thereunder and that the proposed
director is independent of the management.
4. The appointment of independent directors shall be formalised through a letter of appointment, which shall set
out :
a. the term of appointment;
b. the expectation of the Board from the appointed director; the Board-level committee(s) inwhich
the director is expected to serve and its tasks;
c. the fiduciary duties that come with such an appointment along with accompanying liabilities;
d. provision for Directors and Officers (D and O) insurance, if any;
e. the Code of Business Ethics that the company expects its directors and employees to follow;
f. the list of actions that a director should not do while functioning as such in the company; and
g. the remuneration, mentioning periodic fees, reimbursement of expenses for participation inthe
Boards and other meetings and profit related commission, if any.
5. The terms and conditions of appointment of independent directors shall be open for inspection atthe
registered office of the company by any member during normal business hours.
6. The terms and conditions of appointment of independent directors shall also be posted on the
company‘s website.
V. Re-appointment:
The re-appointment of Independent Director shall be on the basis of report of performance evaluation.

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VI. Resignation or removal:
1. The resignation or removal of an Independent Director shall be in the same manner as is provided in sections
168 and 169 of the Act.
2. An independent director who resigns or is removed from the Board of the company shall be replaced by a new
independent director within three months from the date of such resignation or removal, as the case may be.
3. Where the company fulfils the requirement of independent directors in its Board even without filling the
vacancy created by such resignation or removal, as the case may be, the requirement of replacement by a new
independent director shall not apply.
VII. Separate meetings:
1. The Independent Directors of the Company shall hold at least one meeting in a financial year,without
the attendance of Non-Independent Directors and members of management;
2. All the Independent Directors of the Company shall strive to be present at such meeting;
3. The meeting shall:
a. review the performance of non-Independent Directors and the Board as a whole;
b. review the performance of the Chairperson of the Company, taking into account the views of executive
Directors and non-executive Directors;
c. assess the quality, quantity and timeliness of flow of information between the Company management
and the Board that is necessary for the Board to effectively and reasonably perform their duties.
VIII. Evaluation mechanism:
1. The performance evaluation of Independent Director shall be done by the entire Board ofDirectors,
excluding the Director being evaluated.
2. On the basis of the report of performance evaluation, it shall be determined whether to extend orcontinue
the term of appointment of the Independent Director.
Note: The provisions of sub-paragraph (2) and (7) of paragraph II, paragraph IV, paragraph V, clauses (a) and
(b) of sub-paragraph (3) of paragraph VII and paragraph VIII shall not apply in thecase of a Government
company as defined under clause (45) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013), if the requirements
in respect of matters specified in these paragraphs are specified bythe concerned Ministries or Departments of
the Central Government or as the case may be, the State Governments and such requirements are complied with
by the Government companies."