Negative remarks on exp cert

It would have been better if you had consulted elders in the family/competent and experienced well wishers/lawyer-law firm/ or had posted to the forum before shooting emails. You have touched the ego of employer. Employee should give good beating of mind and consult before submitting a written communication and signing on the dotted line.

Ideally employee should express that to whom company property should be submitted and the designated employee of the company may be advised to issue acknowledgment upon receiving the company property.

Once the employee has completed all due formalities at his/her end, employee can raise demand on employer to complete responsibilities due at the end of employer and settle the dues of employee.

Ideally employee should supply the dues to employee on last day in employment/within 2 days of last day of employment or should write within which date (say within 30 days) all a/c shall be reconciled and dues shall be supplied.

Even  a seasoned union leader shall refrain from posting remarks as posted by you in writing, and if at all employee want to set some terms, shall prefer in person/on phone i.e. off the record.

However since you have submitted email apology you may take up the matter and insist that the remarks are unwarranted, and are detrimental to your future employability and is affecting your livelihood hence the employer may withdraw and issue experience certificate stating tenure of service only. If you are yourself not confident you may take the help some senior from your near and dear ones and settle the matter amicably. Otherwise also experience certificate/service certificate, certifies name, designation, tenure of service.

Relieving letter has a column for conduct.

In general wherever you work, the full and final settlement is done once you have returned all the material issued to you as an employee. So you were not on the right side of procedure, when you took the employer on ransom. Nowadays most of the small company/firm employers are also not ethical and once the employee resigns the firm they show the reluctance in clearing his/her dues, but certainly the approach adopted by you was not good. Now the best thing is approach the employer with some senior and experienced person and keep aside you ego and try to get the desired thing done.

Thank You Mr. Kumar Doab and Mr. R. Trivedi for providing me with your valuable advice.

Yes, I had been stupid of not consulting anyone before shooting e-mails.

However, the HR had written the following in the instructional mail for clearing dues
"It’s up to you to return Laptop and keys of office either  before getting payment or after getting payment. Once you decide the giving it back, let me know. I will tell you how to  do that."

This statement as far as I understood is giving me choice of returning laptop before or after payment and that is why I just accepted the choice of returning laptop after payment.
Still is it wrong on my part ?

The email posted by you, offering the choice, gives you leverage/negotiating arm.

However it shall still be better to settle the matter amicably.

You may supply a structured communication narrating and clarifying the events and thereafter approach the employer along with some seasoned acquaintance and obtain work experience/service certificate and reliving letter without adverse comments.

If nothing works you have the option of turning the events on employer. You may consult elders in the family/competent and experienced well wishers/lawyer-law firm and may issue notice/legal notice and/or approach o/o labor commissioner. The employer also knows there shall unnecessary wastage of funds and time if you lodge complaint at your location.

-  What is relevant is the experience certificate, not the communication which took place earlier.

- New employer is not at all interested in looking all these cross communication.

- The point is, you may not need this experience certificate very often, you would need it possibly only for your next job, see that if you can manage the next job with other papers in hand, also try talking to your ex HR guys and take a no dues certificate. This no dues certificate coupled with your appointment letter will be good enough substitute for your experience certificate.

- In the worst case scenario, suppose your ex employer does not give you expunged experience certificate and you have to submit this certificate only to your new employer, then do it, and if you are asked the question regarding this act of yours, tell them frankly that your ex company is famous for not settling the dues in normal resignation cases. Insist that you believe in settling the things even if some twist is required. 

To be very frank, you did not have to hold back the laptop, etc., being the property of the company, when you resigned. Matter of payment should have been settled separately. Issues would not have been inter-linked. Now this stigma can show you to be a dishonest employee in the eyes of the other companies, wherever you would apply.

So, it is better to make a patch up with the company management by humble request to revise the experience letter.