SEBI has no woman member

The SEBI is gearing up to penalise listed companies not having a woman director on their boards despite the Indian markets regulator itself not meeting the requirement.

As per the company law, every listed company or every other public company having a paid up capital of Rs.100 crore or more or a turnover of Rs.300 crore or more should have a woman on its board by March 31, 2015. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), however, is an exclusive male club with no woman members.

As per its website, SEBI itself does not have even one woman member on its board. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai a couple of days back, SEBI chairman U.K. Sinha said it is very shameful that the listed companies were not able to find one competent woman to be on their board and the panel would take a serious view of those companies that do not abide by the stipulation.

He cited the penalties levied by SEBI on those listed companies that did not comply with the regulation of bringing down the promoter holding to 25 percent. Supreme Court advocate D. Varadarajan, however, told IANS that the "SEBI Act does not provide for reservations in favour of women". "The law provides only for members," said the lawyer who specialises in insurance and company law.