SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Government has cancelled the appointment of Purnima Sharma as a Helper in the RTIC Department, Jammu, and appointed Seema Devi to the post with notional effect from October 13, 2014, in compliance with a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order.
The decision was issued by the Jal Shakti Department through Government Order No. 188-JK(JSD) of 2026, dated October 23, 2026. Devi will receive notional seniority and other admissible service benefits from the date of her joining report, but will not be entitled to back wages. Actual monetary benefits will be payable from the date she assumes charge.
The order implements the CAT’s judgment dated July 7, 2025, in T.A. No. 7641/2020, arising from a writ petition filed by Devi before the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court in 2014. The tribunal had quashed the selection order issued in favour of Sharma and directed the authorities to accept Devi’s joining report and allow her to take up the post of Helper in the RTIC, District Cadre Jammu.
The tribunal had also directed the government to cancel the appointment or create a supernumerary post if the position had already been filled. It further ruled that Devi would be entitled to notional seniority and service benefits from the date she submitted her joining report, without back wages.
According to the government order, Devi had submitted her joining report on October 13, 2014, while Sharma submitted hers on October 16, 2014. Sharma was subsequently appointed to the post.
The department’s records showed that Devi had applied for the Helper post under the Scheduled Caste category in response to a recruitment notice issued in September 2013. The selection list published in August 2014 placed her on the waiting list under the relevant category.
Following the tribunal’s judgment, the department sought advice from the General Administration Department and the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. The General Administration Department subsequently advised cancelling Sharma’s appointment and using the resulting vacancy to accommodate Devi, while also fixing responsibility on officials for alleged dereliction of duty.
The Chief Engineer, RTIC, Jammu, informed the government that a Helper post in Pay Level SL-1 had remained vacant since October 2014. The department said the appointment had been found unsustainable on examination of the available records.
