Satish Kumar vs REVENUE DEPARTMENT

:: 1 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
JAMMU BENCH, JAMMU

Hearing through video conferencing

Original Application No. 61/418/2023
Reserved on: 21.09.2026
th
Pronounced on: This the 29 day of October 2026
HON’BLE SHRI RAM MOHAN JOHRI, ADMINISTRATIVE MEMBER
HON’BLE SHRI DIWAKAR SINGH, JUDICIAL MEMBER

1. Satish Kumar Age 56 years S/o Late Sh. Ayodhya Parkash
Sharma R/o Lane no. 55-B, Greater Kailash, Jammu. 180011
2. Sham Lal Age 59 years S/o Sh. P.R. Sharma R/o Village
Chak Largan Tehsil & District Jammu 180017
…..Applicants
(Through Advocate: Mr. Abhinav Sharma, Sr. Adv.
assisted by Mr. Vishal Sharma)
VERSUS
1. Union Territory of J&K Through Commissioner /Secretary to
Govt. Revenue Department Civil Secretariat, Jammu-180001.
2. Financial Commissioner (Revenue) J&K Trikuta Nagar,
Jammu-180004.
3. Secretary to Govt. General Administration Department, Civil
Secretariat, Jammu-180001.
.....Respondents
(Through Advocate: Mr. Hunar Gupta, learned Dy. A.G.
Mr. Sudesh Magotra, learned Addl. A.G.)

RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 2 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

O R D E R (Final)
Sh. Ram Mohan Johri, Administrative Member
This is an Original Application filed by the applicant under
Section-19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 seeking the
following reliefs:-
“i. allow the instant Original Application;
ii. quash Order No. 174-FC (Rev) of 2023 dated
28.03.2023 by virtue of which the substantive
promotion granted to the applicants on the basis of
recommendations of Departmental Promotion Committee
against the post of Head Assistant w.e.f. 14.06.2006
has been withdrawn and the applicants instead have
been ordered to be promoted as Head Assistant w.e.f.
16.03.2014 and 18.02.2017 respectively monetarily
instead of 14.06.2006;
iii. quash Order No. 174-FC (Rev) of 2023 dated
28.03.2023 by virtue of which the substantive
promotion granted to the applicants pursuant to the
recommendation of Departmental Promotion Committee
against the post of Section Officer w.e.f. 07.03.2013 has
been withdrawn and the applicants have been ordered
to be promoted as Section Officers w.e.f. 16.03.2017
and 18.02.2020 respectively, instead of 07.03.2013;
iv. restrain the respondents from effecting any recovery
from the applicants on the basis of impugned order;
ANY other order or direction which this Hon'ble Court may
deem fit or proper in the facts and circumstances of the
case.”
2. The applicants are assailing Order No. 174-FC(Rev) of 2023
dated 28.03.2023, whereby their substantive promotion as Head
Assistants with effect from 14.06.2006 and their subsequent
substantive promotion as Section Officers with effect from
07.03.2013 have been retrospectively disturbed. By virtue of the
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 3 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

impugned order, the applicants have instead been treated as
entitled to promotion as Head Assistants only from the respective
dates on which they attained the age of 50 years and,
consequently, their promotion as Section Officers has also been
deferred on the premise that they could acquire the requisite
substantive service as Head Assistants only thereafter. The
applicants have also prayed for protection against any recovery
arising out of the impugned order.
3. At the outset, it is appropriate to notice that when the
Original Application came up for consideration, this Tribunal, vide
interim order dated 28.04.2023, stayed the operation of the
impugned Order No. 174-FC(Rev) of 2023 dated 28.03.2023. The
said interim order has remained operative. Consequently, the
applicants have continued to enjoy the benefit of the earlier orders
of promotion during the pendency of the present proceedings.The
facts, insofar as they are necessary for adjudication of the
controversy, are that Applicant No.1 was appointed as Junior
Assistant on 21.12.1984, whereas Applicant No.2 was appointed
as Junior Assistant on 16.07.1984. Both the applicants were
subsequently promoted as Senior Assistants on 21.02.1997. Their
next promotional avenue was the post of Head
Assistant/Superintendent under the Jammu & Kashmir Revenue
(Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules, 1973.
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 4 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

4. The applicants have relied upon the provisions of the
Recruitment Rules of 1973, particularly Rules 5, 7 and 11, to
contend that the Secretariat Assistant Examination/Training was
required to be undergone during the period of probation and that
the respondents were under an obligation to provide the
applicants an opportunity to undergo the prescribed
examination/training. It is their specific case that, despite their
seniority and despite representations made by them, the
respondents failed to depute them for the requisite
training/examination. The applicants thereafter completed their
probation as Senior Assistants and were confirmed, and they
contend that the consequences of the respondents' own failure
could not subsequently be fastened upon them.
5. The applicants were thereafter placed as In-charge Head
Assistants in their own pay and grade vide order dated
21.08.2007, subject to clearance by the Departmental Promotion
Committee. The matter was subsequently placed before the duly
constituted Departmental Promotion Committee, which, in its
meeting held on 04.02.2009, considered the cases of the
applicants and recommended their regularization/confirmation as
Head Assistants with effect from 14.06.2006. The
recommendation of the DPC was accepted by the competent
authority and Order No. FC(A)17 of 2009 dated 04.02.2009 came
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 5 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

to be issued, whereby the applicants were formally promoted as
Head Assistants with retrospective effect from 14.06.2006.
6. The aforesaid order of promotion was not an order passed
on the basis of any misrepresentation on the part of the
applicants. It was an order passed by the competent departmental
authority upon consideration of the applicants' cases by the duly
constituted Departmental Promotion Committee. The respondents
thereafter issued the final seniority list of Head Assistants vide
Order No. FC(Adm)203 of 2012 dated 07.11.2012, in which the
applicants were shown at the relevant positions and their date of
promotion as Head Assistants was reflected as 14.06.2006. Thus,
the promotion granted to the applicants was not only acted upon
but was also recognized in the subsequent service record
maintained by the department.
7. It is thereafter an admitted position that the cases of the
applicants were considered for promotion to the post of Section
Officer. In the DPC meeting held on 02.01.2013, certain
employees junior to the applicants were recommended for
substantive promotion as Section Officers, whereas the applicants
were placed as In-charge Section Officers in their own pay and
grade. The applicants challenged the said action before the
Hon'ble High Court by filing SWP No. 662/2013.
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 6 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

8. During the pendency of the said proceedings, the case of the
applicants was again considered by the Departmental Promotion
Committee in its meeting held on 24.10.2018. The DPC
considered the claim of the applicants for retrospective
substantive promotion as Section Officers with effect from
07.03.2013 and also took note of the fact that the employees who
had been promoted as Section Officers and were junior to the
applicants had no objection to the applicants being placed above
them retrospectively. The DPC accordingly recommended
regularization of the applicants as Section Officers with effect from
07.03.2013, subject to withdrawal of the pending writ petition.
9. Acting upon the said recommendation, the applicants
withdrew SWP No. 662/2013 on 29.11.2018. Thereafter, the
competent authority issued Order No. FC(Adm)276 of 2018 dated
06.12.2018, whereby the applicants were substantively promoted
as Section Officers with retrospective effect from 07.03.2013.
Thus, the applicants' promotion as Section Officers was also the
result of a conscious decision taken by the competent authority
upon consideration by the duly constituted DPC.
10. The controversy was revived only when the department
sought inclusion of the applicants' names in the seniority list of
Section Officers in the General Administration Department. The
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 7 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

respondents' own case is that the Revenue Department, vide
communication dated 25.08.2021, forwarded the case of the
applicants to the General Administration Department. The
General Administration Department, in turn, vide communication
dated 10.03.2022, sought clarification as to how the applicants
had been promoted as Head Assistants without passing the
Secretariat Assistant Training Course and before attaining the age
of 50 years and why their promotion had been regularized from
14.06.2006 when their placement as In-charge Head Assistants
was of a later date.
11. It is significant that the aforesaid communication dated
10.03.2022 was not addressed to the applicants. No show-cause
notice was issued to them, nor were they called upon to explain
the circumstances in which their promotion had been granted in
the year 2009 and subsequently acted upon for several years.
Without associating the applicants with the process of
reconsideration and without affording them an opportunity of
hearing, the respondents proceeded to pass the impugned Order
No. 174-FC(Rev) of 2023 dated 28.03.2023, whereby the
applicants' promotion as Head Assistants from 14.06.2006 and as
Section Officers from 07.03.2013 was disturbed.
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 8 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

12. The respondents have sought to justify the impugned order
by contending that the applicants were not eligible for promotion
as Head Assistants because they had neither passed the
Secretariat Assistant Examination nor attained the age of 50 years
at the relevant time. Reliance has been placed upon SRO 471 of
1973 and SRO 272 dated 19.09.2008. According to the
respondents, the promotion granted to the applicants was
contrary to the Recruitment Rules and the impugned order merely
corrected an illegality committed earlier.
13. We have given our thoughtful consideration to the rival
submissions. There can be no dispute with the general
proposition that a statutory Recruitment Rule cannot be
overridden by an administrative order. An employee cannot claim
an entitlement contrary to the governing statutory rules merely
because an earlier administrative order had conferred such
benefit. However, the facts of the present case have to be
examined in their entirety and not by isolating the alleged absence
of the Secretariat Assistant Examination from the chain of
departmental decisions which followed thereafter.
14. In the present case, the applicants were not responsible for
preparing or interpreting the Recruitment Rules. They were
employees of the department. Their promotional cases were
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 9 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

required to be considered by the competent authority in
accordance with the applicable rules. Their cases were in fact
considered by a duly constituted Departmental Promotion
Committee, and the DPC recommended their regularization as
Head Assistants with effect from 14.06.2006. The competent
authority accepted the recommendation and issued a formal order
of promotion. The department thereafter itself issued the final
seniority list showing their date of promotion as 14.06.2006.
15. If the applicants were wholly and ex facie ineligible for
promotion as Head Assistants, it was incumbent upon the
department to explain how the duly constituted DPC
recommended their promotion, why the competent authority
accepted the recommendation, why their promotion was reflected
in the final seniority list issued in 2012 and, most importantly,
why the department itself continued to treat them as regularly
promoted Head Assistants for several years thereafter. The
respondents have not placed on record any material showing that
the applicants had obtained the said promotion by fraud,
misrepresentation or concealment of any material fact.
16. The applicants' case regarding the Secretariat Assistant
Examination also cannot be brushed aside. The applicants have
specifically pleaded that they were not deputed for the requisite
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 10 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

examination/training despite their seniority and despite
representations made by them. They have relied upon Rule 7 of
the Recruitment Rules of 1973, which contemplated departmental
examination during the period of probation, and have contended
that the failure to provide such opportunity was attributable to
the respondents themselves. Whether every aspect of the
applicants' interpretation of the Rules is ultimately correct or not,
the fact remains that the issue involves the conduct and
omissions of the department itself and cannot be used, without
examination, to place the entire burden upon the employees.
17. There is another important aspect which cannot be lost
sight of. The applicants were promoted as Head Assistants
retrospectively with effect from 14.06.2006 in the year 2009. They
thereafter continued to serve in the promotional post. When their
cases were considered for promotion as Section Officers in 2013,
the department did not cancel their status as Head Assistants.
Rather, the applicants were placed as In-charge Section Officers.
Subsequently, in 2018, the matter was again considered by the
DPC, which recommended their substantive promotion as Section
Officers with effect from 07.03.2013. Upon withdrawal of the
pending litigation by the applicants, the competent authority
issued the formal order of promotion on 06.12.2018.
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 11 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

18. The sequence of events demonstrates that the applicants'
promotional status was the result of conscious decisions taken by
the competent authorities at different stages and not a solitary
accidental or clerical mistake. The respondents cannot, after
having themselves repeatedly considered, approved and acted
upon the applicants' promotions, simply characterize the entire
process as an illegality and withdraw the benefits retrospectively
without explaining the circumstances in which the successive
departmental authorities had arrived at those decisions.
19. The principle of finality and certainty in service matters
assumes particular significance where an employee has been
granted promotion by a competent authority, has served on the
promotional post for a long period, has been shown as holding
that post in official seniority records and has subsequently been
promoted further on the basis of that very status. The
administration undoubtedly possesses the power to correct an
illegal order, but such power has to be exercised within the
bounds of fairness, reasonableness and the applicable service law.
20. In the present case, the impugned order suffers from a
fundamental procedural infirmity inasmuch as the applicants
were not heard before their existing promotional status was
withdrawn. The respondents were not merely correcting an
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 12 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

arithmetical error. They were reopening promotions granted more
than a decade earlier and altering the applicants' seniority, pay
and promotional position.
21. The communication dated 10.03.2022 issued by the General
Administration Department itself demonstrates that the matter
was not free from doubt. Clarification was specifically sought as to
the circumstances in which the applicants had been promoted
without passing the examination and before attaining the age of
50 years. Once the authority itself considered clarification
necessary, elementary fairness required that the persons whose
service rights were directly involved should also have been heard
before an adverse conclusion was reached.
22. We are, therefore, of the considered view that the impugned
order cannot be sustained on the ground that it was passed in
violation of the principles of natural justice. However, having
regard to the entire factual matrix, we are also of the view that the
matter does not end merely with setting aside the impugned order
on technical grounds. The applicants had been granted
substantive promotion as Head Assistants from 14.06.2006 and
as Section Officers from 07.03.2013 pursuant to conscious
decisions of the competent authorities, and the subsequent
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 13 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

attempt to withdraw those promotions is itself unsustainable on
the facts of the present case.
23. The applicants' case is further strengthened by the fact that
the respondents have not alleged that the applicants had played
any fraud, practiced misrepresentation or suppressed any
material fact for obtaining the promotions. The promotions were
granted on the basis of departmental DPC recommendations and
formal orders of the competent authority. The applicants did not
assume the promotional posts on their own. They acted pursuant
to orders passed by the department. It would, therefore, be
inequitable to place the entire consequence of an alleged
departmental error upon the applicants after such a prolonged
period.
24. The respondents have also not explained satisfactorily why
the promotion granted to the applicants as Head Assistants with
effect from 14.06.2006 was accepted for years and reflected in the
final seniority list of 2012, nor why the subsequent DPC of
24.10.2018 recommended their substantive promotion as Section
Officers from 07.03.2013. The fact that the applicants withdrew
their pending writ petition pursuant to the recommendation of the
DPC is also a relevant circumstance. Having acted upon the
representation of the administration and withdrawn their writ
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 14 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

petition, the applicants were thereafter granted substantive
promotion as Section Officers with effect from 07.03.2013.
25. The respondents cannot approbate and reprobate. Having
required the applicants to withdraw their pending litigation on the
basis of a departmental recommendation and having thereafter
issued the formal promotion order, the administration cannot,
after several years, reopen the very foundation of that decision
without any allegation of fraud or misrepresentation on the part of
the applicants. Such action would undermine certainty and
fairness in public employment.
26. We also find that the impugned order has serious monetary
consequences. By reducing the date of promotion as Head
Assistant and consequently deferring the date of promotion as
Section Officer, the order necessarily seeks to disturb the pay and
monetary benefits drawn by the applicants over the years. The
applicants had actually discharged duties against the promotional
posts pursuant to formal orders issued by the department. There
is no allegation that they obtained the salary by fraud or
misrepresentation. In these circumstances, the attempt to effect
recovery from them would be manifestly unjust and inequitable.
27. The long period over which the payments were made, the
absence of fraud or misrepresentation, the fact that the applicants
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 15 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

actually performed the duties attached to the higher posts and the
fact that the payments were made pursuant to formal
departmental orders are all relevant circumstances. The
applicants cannot be made to suffer financially for an error, if any,
committed by the administration itself.
28. It is also necessary to take note of the interim order dated
28.04.2023 passed by this Tribunal, whereby operation of the
impugned order dated 28.03.2023 was stayed. Thus, the
impugned order has not operated against the applicants during
the pendency of the present Original Application. The applicants
have continued to remain protected by the said interim order.
Since we have now examined the matter finally and have found
the impugned order unsustainable, the interim protection granted
on 28.04.2023 deserves to merge into the final relief and the
benefit already protected thereunder is required to be continued
permanently.
29. On an overall consideration of the matter, we are satisfied
that the applicants have made out a case for interference. The
promotion of the applicants as Head Assistants with effect from
14.06.2006 was granted by the competent authority upon the
recommendation of the DPC and was subsequently recognized in
the departmental seniority list. Their promotion as Section
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 16 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

Officers with effect from 07.03.2013 was again granted after
consideration by the DPC in 2018 and upon the applicants
withdrawing their pending litigation pursuant to the said
recommendation. There is no allegation of fraud or
misrepresentation against the applicants. The subsequent
withdrawal of these benefits after several years, without notice or
hearing and without satisfactorily explaining the earlier
departmental decisions, cannot be sustained.
30. Accordingly, the Original Application is allowed . Order No.
174-FC(Rev) of 2023 dated 28.03.2023 is hereby quashed and set
aside. The earlier orders whereby the applicants were promoted as
Head Assistants with effect from 14.06.2006 and as Section
Officers with effect from 07.03.2013 shall stand restored and shall
continue to operate.
31. The respondents are directed to maintain the applicants'
service and seniority position on the basis of their promotion as
Head Assistants with effect from 14.06.2006 and as Section
Officers with effect from 07.03.2013, in accordance with the
earlier orders issued by the competent authority. All
consequential service benefits flowing from the said dates shall be
worked out in accordance with law.
RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'

:: 17 :: O.A. No. 61/418/2023

32. It is further directed that any amount, if already recovered
pursuant to the impugned order during any period not covered by
the interim protection, shall be refunded to the concerned
applicant within a period of three months from the date of receipt
of a certified copy of this order.



(DIWAKAR SINGH) (RAM MOHAN JOHRI)
Judicial Member Administrative Member
RS Pathania
Steno-D

RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
C=IN, O=Central Administrative Tribunal Jammu Bench, OU=
Stenographer Grade D, PostalCode=180001, L=jammu, S=JAMMU
AND KASHMIR, STREET="Wazarat Road, Opposite Chief
Secretary Camp office Jammu Jandk", Phone=
53b906b465d826ee1c1d19e3b6adaf29e74297b997621c778f2df25
16f9d70fe, SERIALNUMBER=
c9dcf1f6ccd342a2ad4bd12ef417af4694d0c57afe8c3bc762c35a192
f223826, [email protected], CN=RAJAT SINGH PATHANIA
I am the author of this document
RAJAT SINGH
PATHANIA
2026.10.29 15:40:41+05'30'