Dear Jeyavardhan,
You could have complete information. Please confirm:
a) Your Date of Joining the company
b) Your Last Working Day in the company
c) When the bonus was disbursed and for what financial year
d) In the letter that is issued to you, has the company mentioned a clause under the provisions of which the recovery process has been initiated
As per the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 "
An employee is entitled to be paid by his employer a bonus in an accounting year subjected to the condition that he/she has worked for not less than 30 working days of that year."
We need to find out why the disbursement of bonus does not fit into the above definition. Secondly, I have attached pdf copy of the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965. Go through the act and find out whether the notice contravenes with any clause of the this act.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar