Employee service discipline prohibits an employee from addressing an appeal, representation or petition to any outside authority or person concerning a matter relating to the employee's service in the Authority. Such external communication is deemed a breach of discipline.

Employees require prior sanction to approach a court or the press to vindicate an official act subjected to adverse criticism or defamatory attack. If no response is received within 30 days of the Competent Authority receiving the request, permission may be assumed. Actions to vindicate private character or acts done in a private capacity are not restricted, but the employee must report such action to the Competent Authority.

Arrest or detention for debt or on a criminal charge places an employee under deemed suspension, with payment subject to later adjustment according to whether the period is treated as duty or leave. Full pay and allowances require treatment as on duty and acquittal or proof that no improper conduct caused detention. Committal for debt or conviction involving moral turpitude or official duties may result in dismissal or other penalties. Acquittal after a higher court sets aside the conviction requires reinstatement.

Employees must avoid habitual indebtedness or insolvency and promptly disclose debt-recovery or insolvency proceedings to the Competent Authority. Employees deemed to be in debt must provide signed half-yearly financial statements identifying corrective steps. False statements, failure to submit statements, inability to liquidate debts within a reasonable time, or seeking insolvency-court protection may attract disciplinary action.

Employees must comply with local law on intoxicating drinks and drugs and ensure that no influence affects official-duty performance. They must not appear intoxicated in a public place or habitually use intoxicating drinks or drugs in excess. Public places include public conveyances and accessible locations, but exclude premises where lawful consumption is allowed under a valid licence or permit.

Employee participation in Authority-conducted recovery auctions is prohibited, whether undertaken directly or indirectly. The restriction covers auctions for movable and immovable property where the sale is conducted in recovery proceedings initiated under the Act or an enactment listed in the First Schedule to the Act. It prevents employees from acquiring property offered through the Authority's recovery process.

HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE, HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PAMIDIGHANTAM SRI NARASIMHA AND HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE J.B. PARDIWALA For the Appellant : Mr. Sidharth Barua, Adv. Mr. Praful Jindal, Adv. Mr. Faisal Sherwani, AOR For the Respondent : Ms. Vaishnavi Viswanathan, Adv. Mr. Arunava Mukherjee, AOR ORDER 1 We find no error in the order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi dated 15 November 2022 in Company Appeal (AT) (Insolvency) No 658 of 2022. ... ... ...

Employees must not misuse their official position, seek or accept favours from an IFSC Unit, or obtain personal favours for themselves, family members, relatives or friends. Meetings with outside-agency representatives at residences or temporary tour headquarters for official discussions are prohibited. Oral or personal discussions on official dealings are allowed only where necessary, with the superior informed, and written communication must ordinarily be used. Employees must avoid conduct or facilities that compromise integrity and fairness in duty discharge.

Employee involvement in raising subscriptions requires the previous sanction of the Competent Authority. Employees may not ask for or accept contributions, or associate themselves with raising funds or other collections in cash or in kind, without that sanction. The requirement applies regardless of the objective of the fundraising or collection activity.

Employee association membership is restricted where an association's objects or activities prejudice the interests of the Authority, India's sovereignty and integrity, public order, or morality. Employees must neither join such an association nor continue an existing membership. This conduct and discipline obligation safeguards institutional interests and specified national and public-interest concerns, covering both prospective and continuing membership in associations with such prejudicial objects or activities.

Employees must not engage in or participate in demonstrations prejudicial to the Authority's interests, India's sovereignty and integrity, State security, friendly foreign relations, public order, decency or morality. The prohibition also covers demonstrations involving contempt of court, defamation or incitement of an offence.

Employees acting individually cannot borrow, or allow dependent family members to borrow, from brokers, money lenders, subordinate employees, or entities dealing with the Authority. They cannot incur race-meeting debts, lend privately to an IFSC Unit, or have personal dealings with such a unit for regulated financial services. Private guarantees and indemnities require prior permission. Cooperative credit society loans and surety arrangements are permitted, while debt-instrument subscriptions and prescribed investments or transactions are excluded from prohibited lending or personal dealings.

Employees must declare assets and liabilities in the prescribed manner or, pending such prescription, as approved by the Competent Authority. Prior intimation is required for acquisition or disposal of immovable property, while previous sanction is mandatory for dealings with persons having official dealings with the employee. Specified movable-property transactions must be reported within 30 days. A complete property statement, including sources of acquisition, may be required.

Employees are prohibited from badla trading and from trading or speculating in stocks, shares, securities, or commodities. Employees possessing unpublished price sensitive information must not encourage others to deal in related financial products or financial services. Each employee is deemed an insider and is subject to the applicable insider-trading framework, including the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015, as amended, or other notified regulations.

Employee dealing restrictions prohibit employees from using their position to obtain returns or profits from an IFSC Unit on terms more favourable than prevailing market norms. Employees must not obtain financial services concerning a regulated financial product while possessing unpublished price sensitive information. The restrictions also prohibit specified direct or indirect investments in instruments solely listed on recognised IFSC exchanges, subject to exclusions for mutual fund units, non-convertible bonds, non-convertible debentures, and rights issues in shares already held.

The private trading restriction bars employees from engaging in any commercial business, whether on their own account or as agents for others. Employees may not act as agents for insurance companies or participate in the formation or management of joint stock companies. Canvassing in support of an insurance agency or commission agency carried on or managed by a family member constitutes a breach.

Employees must not solicit or accept gifts from persons having actual or likely official dealings with them, or from subordinate employees; this extends to family members and persons acting on their behalf. Gifts include pecuniary advantages such as free transport, boarding, lodging and services, subject to specified exceptions for qualifying personal relationships, casual social hospitality, and nominal customary tokens received at official functions. Lavish or frequent hospitality must be avoided. Social or religious occasion gifts from personal friends without official dealings require reporting when they exceed the prescribed value threshold. Dowry-related giving, taking, abetment and demands are prohibited.

Where required by the Competent Authority, an employee must obtain prior sanction from her superior before remaining absent from the station overnight. If genuine circumstances make advance permission impossible, the employee must notify the Competent Authority within 24 hours after the absence. Station includes the place of posting and contiguous areas specified by the Competent Authority.

Employees must obtain permission before absence from duty and submit a medical certificate for sickness or accident where required. Unauthorised absence or leave overstay results in loss of pay and allowances and may attract disciplinary measures. Such periods may be treated as extraordinary leave unless followed by discharge, compulsory retirement, removal, or dismissal. Habitual lateness may result in forfeiture of casual leave, or treatment of the forfeited period as ordinary or extraordinary leave.

Part-time work for a private or public body, or a private person, and acceptance of related fees require prior approval of the Competent Authority. Approval is limited to exceptional cases where the work does not detrimentally affect official duties and responsibilities. The Competent Authority may require fees or payments received for approved work to be paid wholly or partly to the Authority.