Granting Bonus Marks In Recruitment Is A Policy Decision, Not Discriminatory Even If Not Applied To All Posts: Rajasthan High Court
The Rajasthan High Court held that decision to provide bonus marks is a matter of government policy and falls within the State Government's discretionary power. This policy decision is not subject to judicial intervention unless it can be demonstrated as unreasonable or arbitrary.
The Court rejected a petition seeking a directive for the State Government to award 30% bonus marks for the position of Medical Officer (Dental). The petitioner had requested the bonus marks based on the argument that similar marks were granted for other government posts.
A Bench of Justice Vinit Kumar Mathur held, “If the State Government has chosen not to provide any bonus marks for the services rendered by persons like petitioners on the post of Medical Officer (Dental), then the same cannot be held to be discriminatory simply on the ground that in other recruitment processes, the State Government generally provides for grant of bonus marks. It is the policy decision of the State Government to grant or not to grant the bonus marks in a particular recruitment and the same cannot be interfered with unless it is demonstrably capricious or arbitrary.”
Advocate VLS Rajpurohit appeared for the Petitioners and AAG N.S. Rajpurohit appeared for the respondents.
The Court referenced several Supreme Court rulings to support its decision. In Sher Singh and Ors. v. Union of India & Ors., it was established that courts should be hesitant to interfere in government policy decisions unless they are shown to be unfair, made in bad faith, or contrary to legal requirements. Another case, Krishnan Kakkanth v. Government of Kerala & Ors., emphasized that judicial review of government policies should not involve assessing the wisdom of the policy but rather whether it is unreasonable or discriminatory. Similarly, in Satya Dev Bhagaur & Ors. v. The State of Rajasthan & Ors., a similar policy of not granting bonus marks was deemed non-arbitrary.
In light of these precedents, the Court held that the State Government had not acted improperly by excluding bonus marks for this recruitment process. Thus, the petition was dismissed.
Cause Title: Rajeev Sidana & Anr. v. State of Rajasthan & Ors., [2024:RJ-JD:32292]
Appearance:
Respondents: AAG N.S. Rajpurohit, Advocates Anita Rajpurohit, Sher Singh Rathore
Click here to read/download Order