Section 194. Prohibition on forward dealings in securities of company by director or key managerial personnel.

Section 194.

Prohibition on forward dealings in securities of company by director or key managerial personnel.

(1)     No director of a company or any of its key managerial personnel shall buy in the company, or in its holding, subsidiary or associate company—

(a)      a right to call for delivery or a right to make delivery at a specified price and within a specified time, of a specified number of relevant shares or a specified amount of relevant debentures; or

(b)     a right, as he may elect, to call for delivery or to make delivery at a specified price and within a specified time, of a specified number of relevant shares or a specified amount of relevant debentures.

(2)     If a director or any key managerial personnel of the company contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1), such director or key managerial personnel shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees but which may extend to five lakh rupees, or with both.

(3)     Where a director or other key managerial personnel acquires any securities in contravention of sub-section (1), he shall, subject to the provisions contained in sub-section (2), be liable to surrender the same to the company and the company shall not register the securities so acquired in his name in the register, and if they are in dematerialised form, it shall inform the depository not to record such acquisition and such securities, in both the cases, shall continue to remain in the names of the transferors.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, ‘‘relevant shares’’ and ‘‘relevant debentures’’ mean shares and debentures of the company in which the concerned person is a whole-time director or other key managerial personnel or shares and debentures of its holding and subsidiary companies.