Respected Lawyers, A bank accepted money as late fee payment for a branch of School on 16-Nov-2016. The School seems to have received some inquiry which I am unaware of and therfore now as a safety measure issued Show cause notice to all clersk handling school fees to admit they wilfully committed this misconduct and ahve asked to make a affidavit in a court . IF not done so, they may ask these clerks to resign. In my case, I have not collected or deposited any money form any parent. The parent themselves deposited the money 2000/- in School bank account . Ideally what i understand is 1) The Bank should have not accepted the money and should have asked for a authority letter. 2) The School Head of Accounts should have intimated all branches and should have intimated all banks to not accept any cash deposits. Now, I have a question is that if I make a affidavit i am supporting which I have not at all done. Secondly if at ll i make this affidavit , will it go against me in future in any of the background checks ? i ahve been given a 48 hours notice period failing to not replying will indicate that I have done this misconduct and negligence. and stand responsible towards it. Kindly provide you esteemed advise which will be a great support . Thanks in advance,
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In reply to show cause notice take the plea that you have not accepted any money from any parent hence question of admitting your mistake does not arise
2) refuse to submit your resignation
3)in any case schools are authorised to collect fees in the banned notes at present and question of misconduct does not arise
4) even if you give any such affidavit it would not go against you
1. The Bank has committed no irregularity and there was no requirement to seek authority letter at all.
2.They could have intimated though but there is no wrong if the parents deposits any late payment fees ,more so, if that is permissible. Only if the late payment fees is not permissible then only acceptance of such fees is crime.
There is however no need to make affidavit. You can simply instruct the concerned department to refund this excess money to all those persons who have made such payment. Inform the higher authorities as well on this misconduct.That is enough,
Making of affidavit would make you rather complicit to the crime,if any.
If you execute an affidavit to admit what you have not done then you will make yourself liable to termination and also possible penal action. This is also likely to have a bearing on your career prospects. If the school terminates you then you can always challenge the termination or look for brighter prospects with another employer, but the affidavit will have long term adverse consequences for you.
You can give a reply to the explanation called for from you narrating the entire events that took place.
If need be you may even give an affidavit on this line stating that you are not aware of such transactions which was done directly by the parents hence you may be absolved from the observation made against you and also to probe into the issue properly and close the case agaisnt you.
Thus you have to give a satisfactory reply instead of complying with false affidavits due to pressure.
They cannot terminate your services, this will be a case agaisnt them invoking labor laws and they are answerable to law as well as liable for the consequences.
Thank you for your answers: 1) The amount in question is only Rs 1000/-. ( That too parent deposited directly in bank without my knowledge and insight) 2) I am forced to submit an affidavit wherein I am been asked to declare that I have collected demonetised money and I am solely responsible and agree with the misconduct and wilful negligence and the School Management is not guilty which is not the case. 3) However , I have been asked to provide a letter, which i will be attaching with Affidavit (in it the amount as 1000/- will be mentioned so its not open ended and i stand answerable only to this amount) as follows; At the outset, I would like to bring in to your kind attention that I have not accepted any demonetised currency notes of Rs. 500/- and 1000/- from 9th to 22nd Nov from any parent. I further state that I have also not deposited any demonetised currency notes for the above mentioned period in the School bank account. I have adhered to all the rules pertaining to demonetisation of currency notes laid by Govt. of India and therefore have not committed any misconduct and neither have been wilfully negligent in discharging my duties. The normal procedure of the acceptance of the fee is parent deposit the cheque in the school bank account. The late fee of Rs.1080/- was directly deposited in the XXXXXXXX bank account no: XXXXXXXXXXXXX by the parent directly. We told parent that we will not accept demonetised notes. The parent should deposit the cheque. But the parent deposited the demonetised currency in the bank and the bank too accepted it. If I do not adhere, I will be harassed and may even have to resign from my Job . Some also advise that its just a safety measure as there may have been some issue in some of the branches which is why this is a safety measure taken by the Management. So should i go ahead with it ?. Because even if there is an enquiry, in practical, there is no proof whatsoever wherein i will be found guilty as I haven't accepted or deposited any cash in any of the time since November. In-fact it's the bank responsibility. I am not sure how bank accepted this late fee in cash. Ideally only Government School and colleges can accept money , can private banks accept cash for a private school remains a question. Will this Affidavit ever go against me? I wouldn't have liked to do this as I strongly disagree but cant afford to loose my job. Thank you again for your valuable time and advises.
1) since amount involved is only Rs 1000 and that amount has been deposited by parent directly in school bank account you are not to be blamed
2) if management insists give the affidavit . you must safeguard your job
The non committal affidavit and also an explanation letter show causing the observations made against you shall be a safe passage to you.
Better take more precautions in the words that are being used so that they do not backfire in case the management is planning to take blanket cover action to save their skin in any such incidence that may arise in future.