IMPORTANT POINT
Weekly offs cannot be excluded from work experience calculations for bonus marks, as it violates statutory obligations and fundamental rights.

ORDER :

Vinit Kumar Mathur, J.

1. The petitioner's grievance herein inter alia arises from the inaction and directive of the respondents, who vide impugned order dated 31.07.2023 (Annex.13), have rejected the petitioner's representation declining him the requisite bonus marks as per actual length of his work experience by excluding Sundays and Holidays from for the period he had worked and 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 15.07.2024, applied for the post of Lab Assistant following an advertisement issued on May 29, 2018. The advertisement specified bonus marks for experience, and the petitioner, with 3 years, 4 months, and 17 days of experience, also applied. 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 calculated 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 dated31.07.2023, 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 Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors. : S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.5694/2021decided on 14.07.2023, which reads as below:-

“1. By way of the present writ petition, the petitioner has raised a grievance that while considering his candidature, respondents have not awarded him bonus marks regardless of the fact that he has worked for more than 392 days.

2. The facts narrated briefly are that the petitioner vied for the post of Lab Technician pursuant to the Recruitment Notification dated 12.06.2020. Alongwith the application form, the petitioner claimed 10 bonus marks for having worked for 392d ays as Lab Technician under ‘Mukhyamantri Nishulk Janch Yojna’. In support of his claim, he furnished two certificates Nos. 8019 and 8020 dated13.07.2020.

3. On declaration of result, the petitioner was accorded 47.792 marks, while cut off for OBC category was 48.73.

4. The petitioner has approached this Court with the grievance that the respondents have erred in not giving him 10 bonus marks, on the pretext that his actual working days after deducting 53 days weekly offs were 339.

5. The fact that the petitioner has not been awarded bonus marks is not in dispute. The only question, which requires to be decided by this Court is, as to whether the weekly holiday (Sunday) and National Holidays etc. can be excluded while calculating experience for the purpose of bonus marks?

6. The answer to this question does not require any detailed deliberation. As per the Labour Laws, all organizations /institutions/enterprises etc., whether government owned or private are, required to observe weekly offs or are bound to allow one weekly off to each employee. If the petitioner was allowed a weekly off by the respondent themselves,his experience cannot be counted hyper-technically by excluding such day offs. The State’s action of calculating petitioner’s working days to be 339(324+15) days and considering such period to be the actual working days is clearly illegal and violative of petitioner’s fundamental rights.

7. If 53 days of weekly offs are added in the petitioner’s actual number of working days i.e. 339as per two experience certificates (Annexure-3), the petitioner’s total number of working days comes to392 days, which is obviously more than a year.

8. To provide or allow holiday of Sunday or weekly off is a statutory duty of all the employers inc