"Serving notice period upon resignation"

Dear all,

I wanted to check with the the forum on the notice period that an employee has to serve after he resigns from a firm.

Most of the companies have a clause in their employment contract which typically read - "" As an employee you are expected to provide the firm ""X"" month(s) of notice upon resigning from the services of the said firm or pay the firm an amount equal to the shortfall of the notice period on CTC (or gross or basic). The decision taken by the firm will be final and binding in this regard.""

My questions are-

a) Can a company choose not to accept the payment in lieu of the shortfall of notice and compel the employee to serve the complete notice period? If yes, is this against any Indian labor law/contract law and what are they?

b) What are the consequences that a company could face if it were to compel the employee to do so?

c) What are the options available with the employee if he would like to leave early (not serve the notice, however pay for the shortfall)?

d) Has there been any case in the past in this regard where a court has passed a ruling? If yes, could you please provide me with the details.

Looking forward to your replies.

Have a great day!

Regards,

Shiv Kumar

[url=mailto:mshivkumar@gmail.com][color=#0000ff]mshivkumar@gmail. com[/color][/url]