Introduction
The invisible and intangible nature of a company makes it obvious to appoint a living person who can act and carry on the business. Such persons are called directors. As per the Companies Act 2013, there is no proper definition of the term “director” but in Section 2(34) it is prescribed that a director is one who is appointed to the Board of a company. The term board of directors as per Section 2(10) of the Companies Act, 2013 means in a company, more simply which means the combined body of directors of a company.

In this blog, we will understand the process of directors' disqualification and relevant processes of disqualification removal.

A body duly made to control, direct, supervise the working and affairs of a company is called the board of directors. Section 149 says that the board of directors need to have individuals only which means any association or body corporate or firm can be appointed as director of a company. But it is prohibited to assign the office of director to any other person as per section 166(6) of companies act 2013 and if it is made that will be void. When an individual desires to be appointed as directors of a company need to make an application in Form DIR 3 electronically for allotment of DIN to the central government with required fees as mentioned under section 153 of the Companies act.

Moreover, the directors’ identification number for the first proposed directors of a new company is mandatorily needed to be applied in SPICe forms. DIN will be allocated by the central government within 1 month of application. The director needs to give his consent in form DIR 2 that he will hold the office of director physically and the company needs to file DIR 12 an e-form along with form DIR-2 that is with the consent by the director as an attachment within 30 days of appointing the directors in the company along with the prescribed fees. If the state government or central government appoints a director then the consent of the director is not necessary. As per the companies act amendment in 2017 says that the central government can recommend any identification number to be treated as DIN for the purpose of the companies act. Any person is not allowed to be appointed as a director without holding the director’s identification number. Rule 2014 of companies say the procedure of making DIN applications.

Types of Directors in a Company
A director can be appointed as an Executive or non-executive director. An executive director can be classified as a whole-time director( who allot his whole time of working hours) or a managing director ( who is appointed by the company and board has control over his work). In the case of non-executive directors, they are also divided as whole time and managing directors.

Director to the Board can be appointed as
• Resident Director
• First Director
• Women Director
• Alternate Director
• Independent Director
• Small Shareholder Director
• Additional Director
• Casual Vacancy
• Nominee Director
• Casual Vacancy

Director's Disqualifications
As per Section 164(1) a person will not be eligible to be appointed as a director if he
(a)is of not sound mind and such thing is declared by a court;
(b)is an insolvent who is not discharged
(c)applied to the concerned authority about his insolvency and the case was still pending.
(d) was found guilty of any offense by a court and sentenced for the same is at least 6 months and after completion of his sentence, 5 years have not passed yet. Or he was found guilty of any offense for which imprisonment is of 7 years or more.
(e) he got an order from a court or tribunal that he is disqualified from being appointed as a director.
(f) has not paid calls money of shares in his name, either alone or jointly and 6 months have passed from that last fixed date of payment of the call money;
(g) has been found guilty for dealing in a related party transaction which is prohibited under section 188 of the act during the last 5 years.
(h) has not followed with sub-section (3) of section 152.

Also as per Section 164(2) also any person who has been or is a director of a company which –
(a) not filed annual returns or financial statements for the last 3 years or
(b) not repaid the deposit accepted or paid interest or have not redeemed any debenture on a date or have not paid declared dividend and such failure for 1 or more years
Then such a person( who wishes to be or is a director) will not be eligible to be appointed as a director of another company who caused the default or re-appointed as a director of that company for 5 years calculated from the day the company made such a failure. But all these points do not apply in a government company.

Every director needs to inform the concerned company about his disqualification in Form DIR-8 before he is appointed or reappointed also he needs to disclose his interest in every first board meeting of a financial year in form MBP 1 and DIR 8.

When a company fails to repay the deposit accepted or paid interest or have not redeemed any debenture on a date or have not paid declared dividend and such failure for 1 or more years the company need to file Form DIR 9 to the ROC mentioning the name and address of all directors of the company at that financial year, immediately. If a company fails to file the DIR-9 within thirty days of such failure it will attract disqualification as per section 164(2), officers of the company as per clause (60) of section 2 of the Act will be the officers in default.

After receiving the Form DIR-9 the Registrar will register the document and place it in the document file for public inspection. For removal of directors disqualification, an application needs to be made in form DIR-10 but a private company can if mentioned in articles can provide for any disqualifications for the appointment of a director in addition to sub-sections (1) and (2) (above). And disqualifications in clauses (d), (e),(g) of sub-section (1) (above) will continue to apply even if the petition has been filed against the order disqualification of conviction.

Conclusion
A Director's appointment is a procedural and crucial administrative need that requires it to be fulfilled by every company. To a very large extent, the success of the company depends upon the competence and integrity of its directors. Appointing a director, filing all e-forms, and knowing if the director is disqualified or not needs expert help. So it is better to take legal help from an advisory company that can ease the process and saves your time.