Can an employee sue an employer in a case where he says that he had not agreed on

those terms of contract as now mentioned by the employer?

Yes. An employee can sue his employer when his services have been terminated on the
ground that he had not fulfilled those terms of the contract which according to the employee
was not mentioned at the time of signing the contract. The employee may sue his employer
on the grounds on fundamental breach of contract. It is a situation where a party to a contract
refuses to perform his part in the contract or makes it impossible for the other party to
perform his part.
It is a broad principle of law that any change in a written instrument which causes it to speak
in a different language which has a different legal effect from the original one i.e. the one
which changes the legal identity of the instrument, is a material change or an alteration under
s. 62 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872. Such a change invalidates the instrument against the
persons not consenting to the change.
1
The rule of English law can be held in this case, that a
material alteration of a document by a party to it, without the consent of the other party,
renders it void, has been held in force in India. The principle behind this rule is that no man
shall be permitted to take the chance of committing a fraud, without running any risk of
losing the event when it is detected.
2

The employee is thus entitled to compensation under s. 65 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872.
The section states that any person who has received advantage under void agreement or
contract that becomes void, is bound to restore it or make compensation to the person from
whom he has received the benefit. This is referred to as the principle of restitution. The
section aims at preventing unjust enrichment.
3


1
G.C. Das v P.K. Chandra [1906] 33 ILR 812 (Cal)

2
Dr. R.G. Padia, Pollock & Mulla I ndian Contract and Specific Relief Acts Vol 1(13th, Lexis Nexis
Butterworths Wadhwa, Nagpur 2006) 1249

3
Ram Nagina Singh v Governor-General in Council [1952] AIR 306 (Cal)