1.  Ignore the notice and don't respond to the notice.

2.  The firm can't ask for this compensation when you haven't joined and they have not provided you with specialised training.

You are not liable to pay any compensation unless it is proved that in furtherance of your acceptance the prospective employer has paid you anything. If he has paid you anything like advance, he is entitled only to claim that advance, not more than that.

Reply to legal notice that you have never signed your acceptance to offer letter 

that no compensation amount is payable by you 

3) however please note that once you accept the offer by email it amounts to co tract and is binding upon you 

Send a reply to them through advocate. 

Sir,
If you need any further assistance.You can approach me through Kaanoon or LinkedIn.

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Dear Client,

I would suggest you to consult a lawyer, my understanding of this process is that the offer letter is an intent to offer employment should certain conditions be met, not a guarantee of employment.

If this goes to court, it is the companies onus to prove that they have spent this amount of money beyond what is necessary as part of their need to hire manpower, to attract only you as a special candidate. 

Next time, if you see such clauses on the offer letter, do not join because such organizations are bound to have issues and will surely have higher than normal attrition.

They can not claim anything unless they have spent anything for hiring you with your consent, which by the way is not possible.

Nothing become a contract unless it is on stamp paper. And an acceptance of offer does not bind you in the way the concerned company has shown. Also, they can take no legal measures, unless you were formally in written informed about their holding right to claim the said amount, that too on stamp paper.

Thank You.

If you have been served with a legal notice then it becomes your duty to issue a reply notice denying their allegations and refusing to the untenable demands made by them.

Since you have not signed the employment offer letter physically though you have given your consent through email, there is no necessity for you to be worried about it because you have declined the offer even before join the company.

Therefore you can give a reply to their notice either by yourself or through an advocate.

It is better to send a reply through a lawyer referring to the clause in the offer letter you have stated and declining to pay them any compensation.

- 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, the Probationary periods are often applied to new employees as a means of determining their capabilities in a new job.

- Further, the employer can terminate during the probation, and employee can also leave the job with the terms and conditions mentioned in the appointment letter for probation. 

- Hence , if you have not signed the offer letter then you are not responsible for the payment of any amount 

- You an reply the said notice after mentioning that you are no an employee of the said company legally , and also not accountable to pay any compensation .