7. INVESTIGATION
- All Protected Disclosures under this policy shall be recorded and thoroughly investigated. The Vigilance Officer shall carry out an investigation himself or may at his discretion consider involving any other officer of the Company.
- 2If initial enquiries by the Vigilance Officer indicate that the concern has no basis, or it is not a matter to be investigation under this policy, it may be dismissed at this stage with the approval of Chairman of the Audit Committee and the decision shall be documented.
- The Vigilance Officer, if deems fit, may call for further information or particulars from the complainant and at its discretion, consider involving any other/additional Officer of the Company or an outside agency for the purpose of investigation.
- Subject(s) will normally be informed in writing of the allegations at the outset of a formal investigation and have opportunities for providing their inputs during the investigation.
- Subject(s) shall have a duty to co-operate with the Vigilance Officer or any of the Officers appointed by it in this regard to the extent that such cooperation will not compromise self-incrimination protections available under the applicable laws.
- Subject(s) have a responsibility not to interfere with the investigation. Evidence shall not be withheld, destroyed or tampered with and witness shall not be influenced, coached, threatened or intimidated by the subject(s).
- Unless there are compelling reasons not to do so, subject(s) will be given the opportunity to respond to material findings contained in the investigation report. No allegation of wrong doing against a subject(s) shall be considered as maintainable unless there is good evidence in support of the allegation.
- Subject(s) have a right to be informed of the outcome of the investigations.
- The investigation by itself would not tantamount to an accusation and is to be treated as a neutral fact finding process.
- The investigation shall be completed normally within 90 days of the receipt of the protected disclosure and is extendable by such period as the Vigilance Officer deems fit and as applicable.
- At the discretion of Board of Directors additional investigation can be conducted if so required.
8. DECISION AND REPORTING
- If an investigation leads to a conclusion that an improper or unethical act has been committed, the Vigilance Officer shall recommend to the Board to take such disciplinary or corrective action as it may deem fit within 15 days of conclusion.
- Any disciplinary or corrective action initiated against the subject as a result of the findings of an investigation pursuant to this policy shall be in adherence with the rules, procedures and policies of the Company.
- A quarterly report with number of complaints received under the policy and their outcome may be placed before the Audit Committee of the Company.
- An yearly report on the the status of all Complaints received from the Whistle Blowers, Complaints resolved and action taken, Complaints under investigation and number of false Complaints lodged may be placed before the Audit Committee of the Company.
- A complainant who makes false allegations of unethical & improper practices or about alleged wrongful conduct of the Subject to the Vigilance Officer shall be subject to appropriate disciplinary action in accordance with the rules, procedures and policies of the Company.
- In case the Subject is the Vigilance Officer, the Nodal Officer of the Company after examining the Protected Disclosure shall forward the protected disclosure to Board members if deemed fit. The Board Member shall appropriately and expeditiously investigate the Protected Disclosure.
- If the report of investigation is not to the satisfaction of the complainant, the complainant has the right to report the event to the appropriate legal or investigating agency.
9. CONFIDENTIALITY
- The complainant, vigilance officer, the subject and anybody involved in the process shall, maintain confidentiality of all matters under this policy, discuss only to the extent or with those persons as required under this policy for completing the process of investigations and Not keep the papers unattended anywhere at any time and keep the electronic mails / files under password.
10. PROTECTION
- A Whistle Blower would be given the option to keep his/ her identity anonymous while reporting an incident. The Company will make no attempt to discover the identity of an anonymous Whistle Blower. If the Whistle Blower’s identity becomes known during the course of the investigation, the Company will ensure that the identity of the Whistle Blower will be kept anonymous and confidential to the extent possible, unless required by law or in legal proceedings.
- A Whistle Blower reporting issues related to Discrimination or Harassment (e.g. sexual harassment, child labour, discrimination, violation of human rights) would ideally need to disclose their identity to enable effective investigation.
- Any other employee serving as witness or assisting in the said investigation would also be protected to the same extent as the Whistle Blower.
- The Vigilance Officer would safeguard the Whistle Blower from any adverse action. This includes discrimination, victimization, retaliation, demotion or adoption of any unfair employment practices.
- A Whistle Blower may not be granted protection under this policy if he/she is subject of a separate complaint or allegations related to any misconduct.
11. DISQUALIFICATION
While it will be ensured that genuine Whistle Blowers are accorded complete protection from any kind of unfair treatment as herein set out, any abuse of this protection will warrant disciplinary action.
Whistle Blowers, who make three or more Protected Disclosures, which have been subsequently found to be mala fide, frivolous, baseless, malicious, or reported otherwise than in good faith, will be disqualified from reporting further Protected Disclosures under this Policy. In respect of such Whistle Blowers, the Vigilance Officer would reserve its right to take/recommend appropriate disciplinary action.
12. COMMUNICATION
This policy cannot be effective unless it is properly communicated to all the existing Directors, associate, employees and other stakeholders. Employees shall be informed through publishing in notice board and on the website of the Company.
13. DISCLOSURE
The details of establishment of such Whistle Blower Policy shall be disclosed on the website of the Company and in the Board’s report.
14. PRESERVATION OF DOCUMENTS
All Protected disclosures in writing or documented along with the results of Investigation relating thereto, shall be retained by the Company for a period of 3 (three) years.
15. ADMINISTRATION AND REVIEW OF THE POLICY
The Audit Committee of the Company shall be responsible for the administration, interpretation, application and review of this Policy. The Audit Committee of the Company also shall be empowered to bring about necessary changes to this Policy, if required at any stage.
Any subsequent amendment/modification in the applicable laws in this regard shall automatically apply to this Policy.