Advocate Harikrishna Pramod

Questions Answered by Advocate Harikrishna Pramod

Q: Is it compulsory to attend the arbitration process referred by judge

Recently Judge has referred my case to Lok Adaalath. I have few questions here. !. Is accused must to attend the Adaalath or send representative with agreement letter ? 2. Can accused again ask to go to Court before any comprise plan? 3. What if accused doesn't attend the Adaalath? 4. Can we go to any other Adaalath?

Advocate Harikrishna Pramod answered
Lok adalat is completely a voluntary process. If you do not wish to attend it, there is no complusion. You can proceed with the existing case from the stage where you had left off. You can also get the matter referred to mediation with the consent of the other side. mediation, again is completely voluntary and no settlement has to be arrived at compulsorily.

Q: Legal action when resigned and company refuses to pay employee bonus

I joined this company on June 1st and I signed a contract in which my pay is divided into different components. one such is continuation bonus. From the contract Continuation bonus of 1,00,000 INR would be paid to the employee after completion of every six months' service at the company, if the employee is still employed by the company. I quit the company recently on 31st may making it exactly 1 year. They refused to pay me the bonus stating i am not an employee on 1st june. Do I have any legal grounds to pursue?. If so how should i pursue?

Advocate Harikrishna Pramod answered
You are entitled to the first 6 months' bonus since you continued as an employee. However, the second bonus for the 6 months may not be payable as you would be on your notice period during such time and the company is aware that you will not be continuing with it. You can sue for the 1 lakh payable after 6 months if that has not been paid.

Q: What to do when a company has sent a legal notice

I was threatened by a senior official at two occasions(once over email) while I was serving my notice period. The reason was that I had to take leave for 2 days because of medical reasons. The second time, I could not bear the unprofessional and threatening remarks(he will ruin my career etc) and opted for a premature exit(12 days before my notice period ending) after submitting the company property. What should be done if the company's legal team has sent a notice of legal action on EMAIL claiming a huge sum(45 lakhs) as compensation against not serving the notice period?

Advocate Harikrishna Pramod answered
You should respond to the legal notice and pre-emptively ensure the company does not take further action. Even if the notice period has not been served in entirety, the company is only entitled to deduct salary in lieu of such period. Replying to the notice, therefore, is important as a first step. Thereafter, depending on the steps initiated by the company, further action may be taken.