Lucknow, Jan 10 (IANS): In an unprecedented move, the Yogi Adityanath government has demoted four additional district information officers to their parent posting as a peon, watchman and cinema operator-cum-communication assistants.

The move was made after their promotions were found to be illegal.

Narsingh, who was posted as additional district information officer in Bareilly, has been demoted as peon, while Daya Shankar, an additional district information officer in Firozabad, has been asked to join his previous posting as a watchman.

Similarly, Vinod Kumar Sharma and Anil Kumar Singh, who were promoted as additional district information officer in Mathura and Bhadohi, respectively, will again work on their previous profile as cinema operator-cum-communication assistant.

A helper in the information department had filed a writ petition in the Allahabad high court seeking promotion, citing the example of four employees of his rank who were promoted as additional information officers.

The court, however, dismissed the petition and observed that the right to promotion was strictly regulated by the service rules.

The court also instructed the director (information) to decide on the representation and consider the grievance of the petitioner that other employees of his rank had been promoted.

Following the court's order, the information department checked the records and found that the four employees had been promoted despite the absence of any such rule to this effect.

"It was decided that all the four persons should be demoted as there was no rule for such a promotion. Not only the helper's claim to entitlement was inappropriate but the promotion of four others was also illegal," a government spokesman said.

He said that their salaries drawn after promotion would also be realized from them.