This Code of Conduct (“Code” hereinafter) has been adopted by the Board of Directors of the Company as a set of standards, values and guidelines for Directors and Senior Management personnel of the company so as to promote ethical behaviour and provide guidance to help them recognize and deal with ethical issues in pursuit of company’s goals and objectives from time to time.
The Code is not exhaustive and does not cover every issue that may arise or every situation where ethical decisions must be made rather set forth broad guiding principles to deal with them.
The Code shall come into effect with effect from 1st day of January 2006 (As amended upto 17th May, 2014) and each and every person to whom the provisions of this Code extends or applies shall sign the acknowledgement form at the end of this Code and return the same as a token of having received, read and understood and having agreed to comply and adhere to the provisions of this Code.
As required under the Listing Agreement, each year as part of annual review, all employees, officers to whom the code applies and directors would be required to sign an acknowledgement indicating their continued adherence to the provisions of this Code.
All Directors and the employees to whom this Code applies shall conduct themselves in an honest and ethical manner and act in the best interest of the company and shall endeavour to avoid actual or apparent conflicts of interest with that of the Company in personal and professional relationships.
Generally, a conflict of interest occurs when a director’s/employee’s personal interest interferes or has the potential to interfere, or appears to interfere materially with the interests or business of the Company; or the ability of the director/employee to carry out his or her duties and responsibilities objectively and effectively.
Although it would not be possible to visualize and enumerate here each and every situation in which a conflict of interest may arise, the following situations illustrates where conflict of interest arises:
In the event that an actual or apparent conflict of interest arises between the personal and professional relationship or activities of an employee, officer or director, the employee, officer or director involved is required to handle such conflict of interest in an ethical manner in accordance with the provisions of this Code.
Each person to whom this Code applies shall deal fairly with customers, suppliers, competitors, the public and one another at all times and in accordance with ethical business practices. No one should take unfair advantage of anyone through manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information, misrepresentation of material facts or any other unfair dealing practice. No payment in any form shall be made directly or indirectly to or for anyone for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or obtaining any other favourable action.
Occasional business gifts to and entertainment of non-employees in connection with business discussions or the development of business relationships are generally deemed appropriate in the conduct of the Company’s business. However, extending of such gifts should be infrequent and their value should be modest. Gifts or entertainment in any form that would likely result in a feeling or expectation of personal obligation should not be extended or accepted.
It is the duty and responsibility of each person to whom the provisions of this Code extend, to protect company’s assets and resources from any loss, theft or misuse. Any suspected loss, misuse or theft should be promptly brought to the notice of the higher management for taking appropriate action. The company’s assets and resources shall be applied and used only for the legitimate business purposes of the company.
The Company is committed to conduct its business operations with integrity and in full compliances of all legal and regulatory requirements. Accordingly no employee, officer or director of the company shall commit an illegal or unethical act or instruct others to do so for any reason.
Using non-public information to trade in securities of the company, or providing a family member, friend or any other person with a “tip”, is illegal. All non-public information should be considered inside information and should never be used for personal gain.
The Board of Directors of the company has already put in place a Code of Conduct for Prevention of Insider Trading, copies of which have been circulated/distributed to all applicable employees, officers and directors. Accordingly all the Officers, employees and directors shall continue to adhere and follow the provisions of the said Code as amended by the Board from time to time.
All persons to whom this Code applies should observe the confidentiality of information that they acquire in carrying out their duties and responsibilities, except where disclosure is approved by the Company or legally mandated. Confidential information includes, but is not limited to, all non-public information that might be of use to competitors, or harmful to the Company or its customers, if disclosed. Of special sensitivity is financial information, which should under all circumstances be considered confidential.
It is the responsibility of each employee, officers and directors to whom this Code applies to strictly adhere and comply with the guiding principles and provisions contained herein and to report to appropriate higher authorities, Audit Committee or Board of Directors as the case may be, as and when any instance of violations or unethical conduct is noticed.
Any waiver of, or amendment to, the requirements of this Code may only be authorised by the Board of Directors, and will be subject to public disclosure to the extent required by law or the listing standards/requirement.