Bharat's The Diary of an Independent Director - Book By CA. Mohan R Lavi

Edition : 1st (2026)

PART 1

DIARY OF AN INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR

Who is an Independent Director?                                                           

PART ONE: The Rule Book

(Or: What They Told Me Before They Let Me In)

Chapter 1      The Companies Act Speaks: Section 149 and Its Many Ambitions    

Chapter 2      SEBI Joins the Party: LODR and the Listed Company Labyrinth      

Chapter 3      The Fine Print Nobody Reads: MCA Circulars, IICA Registration, and the Data Bank                                                                                              

Chapter 4      Other Hats: RBI, IRDAI, SEBI-Regulated Entities, and the Art of Wearing Multiple Crowns                                                                                

PART TWO: The Appointment

(Or: The Letter That Changes Everything)

Chapter 5      The Letter of Appointment: Reading Between the Lines        

Chapter 6      The Induction That Wasn't           
                                   

PART THREE: In the Room Where it Happens

Chapter 7      The First Board Meeting: Baptism by Agenda              

Chapter 8      The Audit Committee Convenes                                      

Chapter 9      CSR: Conscience, Compliance, or Both?                        

Chapter 10    NRC: The Committee That Decides Who Decides       

Chapter 11    A Storm in the Boardroom: Board Meeting II — The Acquisition Vote       

PART FOUR: The Exits and the Lessons

Chapter 12    The Resignation Letter I Had to Write: On conscience, consequences, and the letter that cannot be unsent                                                        

Chapter 13    Liability, Litigation and the Long Shadow of NCLAT: On what happens when the regulator comes looking                                                   

Chapter 14    The Fee, the Conscience and the Mirror: On what independent directors are paid, what they are worth, and what the cheque costs          

Chapter 15    10 Dos and 10 Don'ts for the Independent Director: Hard-won, imperfectly followed, offered

without apology                                                                

EPILOGUE: Independence is a Practice, Not a Certificate                 

PART 2

ALMANACK FOR INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR

Why this Part exists and who it is for                                                     

Chapter 16    The Mirror Before the Boardroom: On knowing yourself before you govern others                                                                                              

Chapter 17    The Seat You Occupy: On the nature of the independent director’s role     

Chapter 18    The Art of Asking the Right Question: On inquiry as the director’s most powerful tool                                                                                       

Chapter 19    Reading the Room — and the Numbers: On financial literacy and the language of the boardroom                                                                          

Chapter 20    The Promoter, the CEO, and You: On managing the most important relationships in the boardroom                                                                     

Chapter 21    When the Room Goes Quiet: On dissent, disagreement, and the courage to stand alone                                                                                    

Chapter 22    Red Flags and the Art of Seeing them Early: On governance failures, warning signs, and your instincts                                                              

Chapter 23    Committees: Where the Real Work Happens: On audit, nomination, remuneration and risk committees                                                           

Chapter 24    The Minority Shareholder’s Silent Voice: On who you truly represent       

Chapter 25    On Reputation, Liability and the Price of a Signature: On what you put at risk every time you sign                                                                       

Chapter 26    When to Stay, When to Walk: On resignation as an act of governance         

Chapter 27    Time, Tenure and the Trap of Familiarity: On the slow drift from independence to comfort                                                                                 

Chapter 28    The Board that Works and the Board that Doesn’t: On board culture, dynamics and collective wisdom                                                              

Chapter 29    Letters to a Young Independent Director: What you wish someone had told you before your first board meeting                                      

Chapter 30    The Thirty Mirrors: What the governance failures had in common  

Chapter 31    Governing in India: On the particular demands of independence in a promoter-led, relationship-saturated, and rapidly evolving governance landscape          

Chapter 32    ESG and the New Accountability: On sustainability, stakeholder responsibility, and the governance of the company’s relationship with the world beyond its balance sheet                                                                                     

Appendices

Appendix 1   Schedule IV: Code for Independent Directors              

Appendix 2   Key SEBI LODR Obligations for Independent Directors        

Appendix 3   Part I: From Mumbai to Madras —

When Indian Directors Drew the Line                            

Appendix 4   Questions to be Asked before Accepting an Appointment as an Independent Director