Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's first choice for the Chief Secretary's post, R S Negi, was rejected by the Home Ministry on the ground that he was not senior enough to hold the post and not in the higher pay scale of Rs 80,000.
The Home Ministry had also told the Delhi government that appointment of Negi as chief secretary would be unfair to a dozen of Union Territory-cadre officers who are senior to him and serving in different posts.
Sharma had assumed the charge of chief secretary of Goa in September 2014. Before that, he was advisor to the Administrator of Chandigarh.