Stuck in a Bond: How Can I Get My Salary Released During the Covid-19 Crisis?

Dear CiteHR members, I will be brief here. I was employed in a bank as a Scale III Manager. My 3-month notice period with them ended on April 5th, 2020. Due to the lockdown because of Covid-19, the place where I was supposed to join has canceled my hiring. Now the situation is that I had joined this bank last year and had signed a 3-year bond of Rs. 2 lakhs. The bank has withheld my salary for the period of March and a few days of April in lieu of the bond amount and is also asking for 18% GST on that amount.

I have requested the bank multiple times to be considerate of the current economic situation and release my salary and waive off my bond amount. If they can't waive it, then at least release my salary and give me some time to repay the bond amount. However, they have been constantly emailing me asking for the entire amount, including GST.

Please advise me on what I can do in this situation.

Thanks

Contractual Obligations and Force Majeure

You are required to pay the bond amount as a contractual obligation. As per the Contract Act of 1872, the current COVID condition attracts Force Majeure, whereby the contractual obligations are deferred until normalcy is restored. In simple terms, the 'Force Majeure' clause is a provision in a contract that exempts a party from performing their contractual obligations which have become impossible or impracticable due to an event or effect that the parties could not have foreseen or controlled. I am attaching a brief article with some supporting judgments of the Supreme Court.

Government Guidelines and Employee Rights

I presume you were working in a private bank. Nevertheless, the Government of India guidelines state that employees should not feel harassed during this period, and their employment benefits are to be assured.

I think you can reply to them along the above lines.