Prikshit is appointed as an independent director on the Board of PQR Ltd. The Company has issued ESOPs to Prikshit deeming him to be its employee. Answer the following: What would be your answer, if Prikshit is a non-exe

Entitlement to ESOPs: Prikshit would still not be eligible to receive the ESOPs. Reason: As per the definition of 'employee' provided under the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits and Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2021, a non-executive director is generally eligible for ESOPs. However, there are specific exclusions: A non-executive director belonging to the promoter group is not eligible. Any director who holds more than 10% of the outstanding equity shares of the company is also not eligible. In this scenario, Prikshit is a non-executive director who belongs to the promoter group and holds 12% outstanding equity shares of the company. Both these conditions make him ineligible to receive ESOPs under the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits and Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2021. Therefore, even under these changed circumstances, Prikshit is not an eligible employee for ESOPs.