As per the provisions of Sec. 149(4) every listed public company is mandatorily required to have at least one-third of the total number of directors as independent directors.
In case of Unlisted public companies in the following events, the companies are required to appoint at least two independent directors;
As per the Provisions of Section 150 of the Companies Act, 2013, an independent director can be selected from a data bank maintained by any body, institute or association, as may by notified by the Central Government.
This data bank contains the names, addresses and qualifications of persons who are eligible and willing to act as independent directors.
The companies who are required to appoint the independent Directors can access such data bank and select the person as an Independent Director.
On 22nd October 2019, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) issued the Notification and amended Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014.
These rules are made effective 1st of December, 2019.
The said amendment has specified an eligibility criteria to get appointed as an ‘Independent Director’. Accordingly it is necessary to apply to the ‘Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs at Manesar’ (IICA) set under the authority of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
IICA is conducting an online proficiency self-assessment test for the persons to become eligible to get appointed as an “Independent Director”
Our Partners, CS Milind Kasodekar and CS Shilpa Dixit are qualified to be appointed as an Independent Directors and are registered with Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs. Cs Shilpa Dixit has served a position of a woman independent director on one of the listed entity