Can Employers Skip Notice Pay if It's Not Explicitly in the Contract? (India Context)

If "salary in lieu of notice" is NOT mentioned in the employee contract, and instead "appointment can be terminated either by management or by you, by giving 60 days notice" is mentioned; is the former clause implied (India)? Is the employer legally bound to pay a notice pay if there was no EXPLICIT mention of the "salary in lieu of notice" clause in the offer letter.

If there is no mention of "salary in lieu of notice period" explicitly, you cannot imply meaning from it.

If the clause in the appointment letter states, "Appointment can be terminated either by Management or by you, by giving 60 days notice," it means that if the candidate decides to leave the company, they should serve a 60-day notice. Similarly, if management wants to terminate the services of the candidate, the company has to give a 60-day prior notice.

What if the candidate doesn't want to serve a 60-day notice? What if the candidate wants to only serve notice for 15 days? Can the company still ask for notice pay?

Yes, the candidate did submit her resignation letter to the management, requesting her release within 15 days. She did receive the relieving letter. However, the salary/FNF (Full and Final settlement) was delayed for months. When the candidate sent a legal notice to claim her dues, she was instead asked to pay for the remaining 45 days.

Thank you for your input!

Yes, what you have done is absolutely correct in terms of the appointment order issued to the candidate. However, you could have issued only a resignation acceptance letter and not a relieving order. By issuing the relieving order, you have lost a 50% lien on the matter.

What is the length of service of the employee?

The normal practice is that a relieving letter along with his/her final settlement check shall be issued to the concerned leaving employee on his/her last working day, during the closing hours of work.

I am concerned with the employee's situation here, not the management. The employee has worked for more than 1.5 years. The relieving letter was issued much later than the last working day, and the last working day is mentioned on the relieving letter.

Also, how can the employee be asked to pay for salary in lieu of notice if it has not been explicitly defined in the employee offer letter?

Additionally, the resignation was forced.