No it's not allowed. You deny it. If you need any further assistance, you can approach me through kaanoon or LinkedIn.

issue legal notice to company to pay your gratuity amount

2) if company inspite of notice refuses to pay you can file claim before the Controlling Authority under the Payment of Gratuity Act within the area, your employer's establishment is situated

3) company can not withold your gratuity on basis of bond 

- As per Specific Relief Act, if any employee quits before the notice period, the Employer can only recover the Notice pay, and the Company cannot force to serve the entire notice period.

- Further, the resignation decision is the employee’s decision, and the employer cannot sue for breach of contract, if the employee leaves without serving contractual notice. 

- Further, no employer can refused to return the original certificates or to issue relieving letter .If they are doing so, their act is illegal, unjustified and against the fundamental rights of the employee.

- Further, the employment bond with the negative covenant is valid and legally enforceable, if the parties agree with their free consent i.e. without force, coercion, undue influence, misrepresentation and mistake, but it is not enforceable, if it is either one sided, unconscionable or unreasonable.

- Further, section 27 of the Indian Contract Act prohibits any agreement in restraint of trade and profession.

- Hence, you are not accountable for the said payment to the company , if you have already tendered resignation and information for the same given to the said company. 

- You can reply the notice if any received by the said company ,and thereby ask for the release the gratuity and issue the experience letter to you.

Bonds are only valid if the corporation has invested money on the workers' personal hygiene and improvement, not just on preparation to make them work better.

It should also not be one-sided or favour the employer to demonstrate that the bond is legal.

For a bond to be recognised constitutionally, the court must always challenge its reasonableness.

For example, if an employer has created software and the employee has knowledge of that software, prohibiting the employee from using that software for another job with a bond is legal and therefore legitimate.

However, an employment bond is not recognised as legitimate in unusual situations.

If an employer has spent money on preparing an employee for a specific job, he will sue for damages for the financial loss he has suffered.

If the work bond is one-sided, unconscionable, or immoral, it would be unenforceable.

You can issue a legal notice demanding the relieving letter, grautity payment and experience certificate on the basis of your resignation letter.

Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act may be used to question the validity of employment bonds.

Any arrangement in restriction of trade or profession is prohibited under Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act of 1872.

Any trade or occupation agreement that violates Section 27 is null and void.

An employer can be entitled to compensation if an employment bond is violated.

The amount of compensation awarded should be adequate to compensate for the loss and should not exceed the contract's penalty, if any.

The court determines the appropriate compensation amount by calculating the employer's actual loss, taking into account all of the case's facts and circumstances.

Even if the bond provides for the payment of a penalty in the case of a violation, this does not imply that the employer is entitled to the full sum; the courts may decide the fair amount of compensation to be paid.

As you have signed a bond with your employer that you would return to India and serve them for 6 months or else pay Rs.5 lakh in compensation, the employer is well within their rights to enforce it against you. As you have resigned already, your gratuity and experience letter are more valuable to you in future. Please pay the monetary compensation to your employer and ask for release of gratuity and experience letter. It is not a one-sided bond as you were well aware of the consequence if you breached the terms of the bond when you signed it. There is no ground for challenging it now.

1. Your can counter their claim stating that the Company has dishonestly avoided/refused to take you back to India to compel you to serve them eternally.

2. Based on the above ground, you can counter the case, if  it is filed against you.

3. I have not come across  any body who have been directed by the Court to pay the Bond amount.     

Such bonds are void and cannot be enforced in India as per section 27 of the Indian contract Act.

Section 27 of Indian contract Act, 1972 states that, "Agreement in restraint of trade, void – Every agreement by which any one is restrained from exercising a lawful profession, trade or business of any kind, is to that extent void."

Dear client, 

You can issue a legal notice to the company demanding the gratuity payment and experience letter based on your resignation letter and then question the validity of this employment bond under Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act. 

Thank you