Court
Handled by Advocate N. J. Parmar, B.A., LL.B., more than thirty-five years at the Bar. Court practice and notaryship run together: under section 3 of the Notaries Act, 1952 read with Rule 3 of the Notaries Rules, 1956, notaries are appointed from among advocates of long standing, and the application is routed through the court where the advocate practises.
For employees
- Unpaid wages, overtime and dues on leaving employment
- Termination — and whether the procedure required was followed
- Gratuity, provident fund and ESI claims, including where an employer has closed or no longer exists
- Experience and relieving letters withheld
- Employment bonds being enforced — note that a bond amount must be a genuine pre-estimate of documented training cost, not a penalty
For employers
- Contracts and policies drafted so the terms relied on are enforceable. Employment agreements →
- Contract labour and manpower supply arrangements, and the principal employer's position
- Statutory registrations and compliance, including the Gujarat Shops and Establishments Act, 2019 — as amended with retrospective effect from 16 December 2025, applying to establishments with twenty or more workers, with smaller establishments intimating the jurisdictional Inspector under section 7
- Responding to claims and notices
Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 makes agreements in restraint of trade void, subject to a statutory exception for the sale of goodwill. Indian courts have applied it consistently to post-employment non-competes. What is reliably enforceable is confidentiality, ownership of work product and return of property; in-term restraints are stronger; the case law on non-solicitation is mixed. Employers relying on a non-compete to protect a business are frequently relying on nothing.
Appointment letter, salary slips, bank credits, attendance and leave records, the resignation or termination letter, and the written communications. These matters turn on the record far more than on recollection, and the party with the better record usually prevails.
Where a claim is time-barred, where the document relied on was never registered and therefore cannot be received in evidence of the transaction under section 49 of the Registration Act, 1908, or where the realistic recovery is less than the cost of recovering it — you will be told at the first meeting, not after money has been spent. A settlement reached quickly is very often worth more than a decree obtained slowly.
What to bring
- Every document you have, including the unhelpful ones
- Photo ID
- A dated account of what has happened
- Any notice or court paper already received or sent
- Appointment letter and any contract
- Salary slips and bank statements showing credits
- Resignation or termination letter
- PF, ESI and gratuity records