IMPORTANT POINT
Weekly offs are statutory entitlements and must be included in work experience calculations for bonus marks.

ORDER :

Mr. Arun Monga, J. - Grievance of petitioner inter alia stems out from impugned order dated 31.07.2023 (Annex.18), whereby he has been denied the requisite bonus marks commensurate with the duration of his past work experience. While counting his work experience Sundays and holidays were excluded. It was also held that he has not provided any evidence whether he worked as a Lab Assistant or Lab Technician.

2. Relevant facts first. The petitioner, serving as a Lab Technician on a contractual basis since April 1, 2012, applied for the post of Lab Assistant following an advertisement issued on May 29, 2018. The advertisement specified bonus marks for work experience. The petitioner has got 6 years, 2 months and 5 days of work experience. Despite being listed for document verification and meeting the eligibility criteria, an office order dated September 5, 2019, forwarded incorrect work experience details by the respondent's office by excluding Sundays and Holidays while calculating the total period of work experience. Despite multiple representations highlighting the petitioner's eligibility and correct bonus qua length of work experience, no heed was paid. Finally, by impugned order dated 31.07.2023, the respondent authorities have rejected the representation of the petitioner. Hence, this writ petition.

3. In the aforesaid backdrop, I have heard the rival contentions and perused the case file.

4. The controversy raised herein is no more res integra. Reference may be had to judgment rendered by a Coordinate Bench of this Court in the case of Suresh Choudhary v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. : S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.5694/2021 decided on 14.07.2023, which reads as below:-

"8. To provide or allow holiday of Sunday or weekly off is a statutory duty of all the employers including State Government. section 13(1)(b) of The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and notifications issued by the appropriate Government from time to time enjoin upon the State Government/employer to give one paid holiday to the employee every week. The weekly off cannot be equated with a leave which an employee takes after it being sanctioned. Such weekly off is observed or required to be given by the organizations itself, without the employee demanding it. Hence, such days of weekly offs cannot be deducted while calculating the experience or counting the number of days a candidate has worked. The respondent's stand is both, contrary to law and arbitrary, given that the experience is to be counted on yearly basis as per Rule 19 of the Rajasthan Medical & Health Subordinate Service Rules, 1965.

9. Almost similar view has been taken by this Court in the case of Mahipal Lakhera v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. : S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 2577/2020 decided on 11.01.2021.

10. As a consequence of above deliberation, the present writ petition is allowed."

5. Having seen the facts of the instant case, it turns out that the petitioner herein is similarly situated.

6. Accordingly, I see no reason, why the benefit of the aforesaid judgment be also not accorded to the petitioner.

7. It is so ordered.

8. Before parting, I may hasten to add here that whether petitioner worked as a Lab Assistant or Lab Technician is also irrelevant, in view of another judgment rendered by this Court in the case of Narendra Barwal v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. : S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.1669/2022 decided on 05.05.2022. I am in respectful agreement with the views expressed therein by my learned Brother Arun Bhansali J., (as he then was in this Court). From the import of the judgment, it is clear that whether the work experience is on the post of Lab Technician or Lab Assistant, it is insignificant as long as the candidate has worked in the laboratory since duties of Lab Assistant and Lab Technician are similar in nature.

9. As an upshot, the impugned order dated 31.07.2023 (Annex.18), vide which the representation of the petitioner was rejected is quashed. The respondents are directed to consider the candid