JUDGMENT :

1. These appeals are preferred against the common judgment and order dated 14.02.2020 passed in W.P Nos.3082, 4818, 15161, 20948 of 2019 and 1977 of 2020.

2. Writ Petition Nos.4818, 15161 and 20948 of 2019 were filed by K. Venkata Rao and Writ Petition Nos.3082 of 2019 and 1977 of 2020 were filed by Gajula Sarat Chandra Babu and all the writ petitions were allowed setting aside the orders impugned and granting consequential benefits.

3. W.A.Nos.381, 382, 411, 426 and 46 of 2020 are preferred by Acharya Nagarjuna University (for short, ‘the University’) in respect of W.P.Nos.3082 of 2019, 4818 of 2019, 1977 of 2020, 20948 of 2019 and 15161 of 2019, respectively.

4. W.A.Nos.30 of 2021 and 35 of 2021 are filed by the State of Andhra Pradesh in respect of W.P.Nos.4818 of 2019 and 3082 of 2019, respectively.

5. Learned counsel for the parties have advanced arguments in W.A.No.382 of 2020 as the learned single Judge had passed the judgment based on W.P.No.4818 of 2019.

6. Before proceeding further, it will be appropriate to take note of basic facts and the nature of relief sought in each of the writ petitions for better appreciation of the issues involved.

7. In W.P.No.3082 of 2019,