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Jammu, Aug 24: In Original Application No. 1298 of 2025titled Rakesh Kumar Rana Versus 1. UT of J&K through Its Commissioner Cum Secretary to Government Health and Medical Civil Secretariat, Jammu/ Srinagar- & others after hearing Advocate F.A. Natnoo on behalf of Petitioner, CAT Jammu ordered as under:-
O.A. No. 61/1298/2025 O R D E R 1. The instant petition has been filed by ld. counsel for the applicant seeking following relief:
i. Allow this original application of the applicant. ii. Direct the respondents to allow consideration the case of the applicant for the purpose of his promotion on in-charge basis on the analogy of above named senior colleagues of the applicant namely Sh. Sandeep Kumar, Vishal Sharma, Deepak Kumar and Mohd Hafiz against the one of the vacant post of Senior Assistant in District Cadre Kishtwar.
2. Ld. counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant would be satisfied if the present Original Application is disposed of with a direction to respondents to treat this O.A. as representation of the applicant and decide the same by passing a reasoned and speaking order within time frame.
3. Ld. counsel for the respondents vehemently opposed the prayer made by ld. counsel for the applicant.
4. Heard ld. counsels for the parties.
5. In view of the above, the Original Application is disposed of with a direction to respondents to treat this O.A. as representation of the applicant and consider the case of the applicant in light of judgement dated 10.07.2025 passed by this Tribunal in O.A. No. 1241 of 2023 case titled Jagmeet Singh & Ors. vs. UT of J&K & Ors. in which this Tribunal has given the following directions “..............................
18. In view of the above discussion, the Tribunal holds that the action of the respondents in denying consideration of the applicants for promotion to the post of Senior Assistant is arbitrary, discriminatory, and violative of statutory rules. The respondents cannot be permitted to act contrary to their own recruitment rules or rely on an executive order to override statutory eligibility norms.
9. Accordingly, the Original Application is allowed in the following terms:
a) Clause 4 of Government Order No. 318-JK(GAD) of 2021 dated 08.04.2021, to the extent it impose mandatory qualification of the Secretariat Assistant Training Course for promotion to the post of Senior Assistant, is held to be ultra vires and inoperative.
b) The impugned communication dated 31.08.2023 and the minutes of the Departmental Promotion Committee meeting dated 30.12.2021 are hereby quashed.
c) The respondents are directed to reconvene a Departmental Promotion Committee and consider the applicants for promotion to the post of Senior Assistant strictly in accordance with the Recruitment Rules of 1991, ignoring the requirement of qualification in SATC.
If found otherwise eligible, the applicants shall be promoted with effect from 30.10.2020, with notional seniority and consequential benefits, excluding arrears of salary. d) The aforesaid exercise shall be completed within a period of six weeks from the date of receipt of this order.”
6. In view of the above, the respondents are directed to decide the representation by passing a reasoned and speaking order. The respondents are further directed to communicate the order so passed to the applicant.
The whole exercise shall be completed within a period of six weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order.
7. With these directions, the O.A. No. 1298 of 2025 is disposed of. 8. However, there shall be no order as to costs.
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