Amendments to Provisions Relating to Independent Directors

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) vide Notification dated 5th July, 2017 hereby amended SCHEDULE IV of The Companies Act, 2013 which laid down the rules regulating duties, resignation etc of independent directors.

1] Earlier paragraph III sub-paragraph (12) provided that
The independent directors shall-“acting within his authority, assist in protecting the legitimate interests of the company, shareholders and its employees”
The amendment corrected he concord error in the sentence and now it reads as
The independent directors shall-“acting within their authority, assist in protecting the legitimate interests of the company, shareholders and its employees”

2] Paragraph VI, sub-paragraph 2 earlier provided that when an independent director had resigned or was removed from office, a new independent director should be appointed within a period of 180 days from the date of such resignation or removal. However, the amendment reduced the period within which a new independent director is to be appointed from 180 days ‘three months’.
3] Further, paragraph VII which read as “the independent directors of the company shall hold at least one meeting in a year, without the attendance of non-independent directors and members of management” is now amended to substitute the phrase ‘in a year’ with ‘in a financial year’