Companies Act, 1956
Sec 299
- Disclosure of interest by director.
(1) Every director of a company who is in any
way, whether directly, or indirectly, concerned or interested in a contract or
arrangement, or proposed contract or arrangement, entered into or to be entered
into, by or on behalf of the company, shall disclose the nature of his concern
or interest at a meeting of the Board of directors.
(2)
(a) In the case of a proposed contract or
arrangement, the disclosure required to be made by a director under sub-section
(1) shall be made at the meeting of the Board at which the question of entering
into the contract or arrangement is first taken into consideration, or if the
director was not, at the date of that meeting, concerned or interested in the
proposed contract or arrangement, at the first meeting of the Board held after
he becomes so concerned or interested.
(b) In the case of any other contract or
arrangement, the required disclosure shall be made at the first meeting of the
Board held after the director becomes concerned or interested in the contract
or arrangement.
(3)
(a) For the purposes of sub-sections (1) and
(2), a general notice given to the Board by a director, to the effect that he
is a director or a member of a specified body corporate or is a member of a
specified firm and is to be regarded as concerned or interested in any contract
or arrangement which may, after the date of the notice, be entered into with
that body corporate or firm, shall be deemed to be a sufficient disclosure of
concern or interest in relation to any contract or arrangement so made.
(b) Any such general notice shall expire at
the end of the financial year in which it is given, but may be renewed for
further periods of one financial year at a time, by a fresh notice given in the
last month of the financial year in which it would otherwise expire.
(c) No such general notice, and no renewal
thereof, shall be of effect unless either it is given at a meeting of the
Board, or the director concerned takes reasonable steps to secure that it is
brought up and read at the first meeting of the Board after it is given.
(4) Every director who fails to comply with
sub-section (1) or (2) shall be punishable with fine which may extend to fifty
thousand rupees.
(5) Nothing in this section shall be taken to
prejudice the operation of any rule of law restricting a director of a company
from having any concern or interest in any contracts or arrangements with the
company.
(6) Nothing in this section shall apply to any
contract or arrangement entered into or to be entered into between two
companies where any of the directors of the one company or two or more of them
together holds or hold not more than two per cent of the paid-up share capital
in the other company.