“Independent director” ka role paper pe bada attractive lagta hai – board pe seat, strategy discussions, brand value. Lekin law unse sirf attendance nahi, real oversight expect karta hai.
Independent directors ka kaam hota hai:
- Promoters aur minority shareholders ke interest balance karna,
- Related party transactions pe objective nazar rakhna,
- Audit, risk, remuneration committees me tough questions poochna,
- Governance failures, fraud red flags, ya regulatory breaches ko timely flag karna.
Liability ka fear bhi real hai. Agar company me massive fraud ya non-compliance ho aur independent directors ne obvious red flags ignore kiye hon, to regulators unhe bhi responsible thahara sakte hain – specially jab minutes, emails, ya approvals me unka role dikhta ho.
At the same time, law recognise karta hai ki unka daily operations pe full control nahi hota, isliye unko “officer in default” banane se pehle due diligence standard apply kiya jata hai – kya unhone reasonable care li, kya queries raise ki, kya dissent record kiya?
Practically, independent directors ko comfortable ignorance chhod kar active, well-documented engagement adopt karna chahiye. Board seat honour ke sath-sath duty aur risk ka combo hai.