Who is a Whistleblower?

A Whistleblower is a person who exposes wrong doings in an organization relating to illegal, dishonest, dangerous, or fraudulent practices. Sometimes, whistleblowing is internal to an organization and is meant to expose the wrong practices of an organization. It could also be external, where a whistle-blower exposes an entity's illegal practices.

Purpose

To provide a mechanism to support you so that you can safely express your concerns, offering protection from victimization, unacceptable practices, or any event of misconduct from those who do so

Who is Eligible for Whistleblower?

A Whistleblower can be a Partner, Director, all salaried & professional staff including Article Clerks/ Trainees, Company Secretary, Employee, Supplier of goods or services to Kalyaniwalla & Mistry LLP (such as a Secondee, Contractor, and Outside consultant, Client Personnel or a Volunteer providing services to Kalyaniwalla & Mistry LLP within the office premises or at the Client Location). It also applies to dependents, or spouses of any of these people who are not in the position to raise the concern.

Types of Concern

Where there are reasonable grounds to suspect misconduct or an improper state of affairs, an offence or a danger to the public or financial system

·Illegal conduct,

·Fraud, money laundering, misappropriation of funds

·Offering or accepting a bribe,

·Financial irregularities, failure to comply with, or breach of, legal or regulatory requirements, and engaging in or threatening to engage in Detrimental Conduct.

What can be Reported?

Examples of Reportable Conduct include but are not limited to:

·Illegal conduct, such as theft, violence or threatened violence, and criminal damage against property

·Fraud, money laundering or misappropriation of funds

·Offering or accepting a bribe

·Financial irregularities

·Failure to comply with, or breach of, legal or regulatory requirements; and

·Engaging in or threatening to engage in detrimental conduct against a person who has made a disclosure or is believed or suspected to have made or be planning to make a disclosure.

Reportable Conduct excludes interpersonal grievances as described below.

Interpersonal Grievances:

An interpersonal grievance is a report of behaviour that has implications for you personally and does not have significant implications for Kalyaniwalla & Mistry LLP.

Examples include:

·An interpersonal conflict between you and another employee, or ·

·a decision relating to your employment or engagement, such as a transfer, promotion, or disciplinary action.

Interpersonal grievances do not qualify for protection under the Whistleblower Laws or this Policy. Interpersonal grievances must be raised with your Partner/ Manager.

Means of Reporting

A handwritten signed copy of the complaint can be addressed to Whistleblowing Committee. One can also report it on the given email id - whistleblower@kmllp.in. No verbal complaints will be acceptable.

Who will assess or investigate the matter?

All Whistleblower complaints will be considered by the Committee, who may investigate the Whistleblower complaint

How will my Whistleblower complaint be reviewed?

All complaints will be carefully reviewed to determine whether an investigation is required. The Committee may appoint individual or group of Individuals internally to investigate the matter and report back to Committee.  The Committee will review the outcome and determine appropriate actions to respond to the matter.

What is the investigation process?

While the circumstances of each Whistleblower complaint may require different investigation steps, all investigations will: ·

· Follow a fair process;

· Be conducted as quickly and efficiently as the circumstances permit;

· Determine whether there is enough evidence to substantiate the matters reported; and

· Be independent of the person(s) concerned with the allegations.

· Provide feedback, as deemed appropriate by the Committee on the progress

.

Fair treatment of the individuals mentioned in the Whistleblower complaints

The investigation process outlined in this Policy is also designed to allow fair treatment of any individuals mentioned in the disclosure; including:

·Disclosures will be handled confidentially.

·Matters reported will be assessed and may be subject to an investigation.

·There will be a presumption of innocence until the outcome of the investigation is determined. The purpose of the investigation is to determine whether there is enough evidence to substantiate the matters reported.

What happens after an investigation?

The Committee will take all appropriate measure based on the nature and severity of the complaint. We may or may not notify you once an investigation has been completed but please be aware that the Committee may be unable to disclose details or the outcome of the investigation

Whistleblowing Report

Before making your Whistleblower complaint you should satisfy yourself that you have reasonable grounds to suspect reportable conduct."Reasonable grounds to suspect" is based on objective reasonableness of the reasons for the suspicion. In practice, a mere allegation with no supporting information is unlikely to reach that standard. However, a Whistleblower does not need to prove the allegation/s. In addition, the disclosure can still qualify for protection even if the disclosure turns out to be incorrect.

What should you include in the Complaint?

Please provide as much detailed information as possible so that your compliant can be investigated. Some useful details include: ·

·Date, Time and Location.

·Names of person(s) involved, roles and their business group,

·Your relationship with the person(s) involved,

·The general nature of your concern,

·How you became aware of the issue,

·Possible witnesses and

·Other information that you must support your complaint.

Confidentiality & Record Keeping

Any complaint raised under this Policy will remain confidential between the person who raises the complaint, the Firm, and the Committee, to the extent needed, any other member who would be aware of the communication of the complaint. Thus, any information you provide under this procedure will also remain confidential, including your identity.

In this respect, please note that concerns / complaints cannot be raised anonymously, and you shall provide information on your identity, which will always remain confidential and shall never be communicated to the member who is the subject of the alert.

Depending on the nature of the matter you have raised, the Firm may be required by law to disclose some or all the information to a third party. You will be informed if such disclosures are made.

Whilst investigating the matter, you may be required to provide further information. Your co-operation after you have raised a matter is essential for the proper investigation of your concern.

The records of the data will be maintained as per the discretion of the Committee. 

Any malicious allegations regarding the Firm's activities to external persons will constitute gross misconduct and will be investigated under the Firm's disciplinary procedure. Anyone found to have made a malicious allegation may be dismissed without notice or pay in lieu of notic

Note: The Firm reserves the rights to change the Policy suitably as and when required.

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