Ashutosh Kumar, ACJ. – Both the appeals preferred on behalf of the State have been taken up together and are being disposed off by this common judgment.

2. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties.

3. Several of the teachers of private degree colleges had come before this Court vide different writ petitions seeking a direction to the State to release funds to the University, which could be utilized for paying their salaries.

4. In almost all the writ petitions, positive orders were passed, but to no avail.

5. A learned Single Judge, hearing the writ petitions, later found that an amendment has been brought about in the year 2015 in the Bihar Universities Act, 1976 (in short the Act of 1976), modifying Section 57-A of the Act and adding sub-Section 6, which reads as follows: –

“The Selection Committee, subject to this Act, will complete the scrutiny of the cases of the teachers of the affiliated degree colleges appointed prior to 19.04.2007, without the recommendation of the Bihar College Service Commission on the basis of qualifications in force at the time of appointment of such teachers up to 31.03.2017, otherwise, such appointments will not be treated valid. Thereafter, the Governing Body of the college will accept the names recommended by the Selection Committee, which shall be finally approved by the concerned University.

Distribution of the amount of grant of the State Government will be made across the teachers in the concerned affiliated degree colleges by its Governing Body up to 31.03.2017.”

6. The time limit was further extended to 31.03.2018.

7. It was further found out by the learned Single Judge that most of the petitioners had been appointed in private colleges based on the recommendations of the Governing Body of such colleges. All such colleges were affiliated with the respective Universities. However, their appointments did not have the sanction/approval of the Bihar College Service Commission.

8. With the Bihar College Service Commission having been dissolved, a new body, viz., Selection Committee at the College Level was introduced for making recommendations with regard to appointment of teachers of the affiliated degree colleges under the Act of 1976, as amended from time to time.

9. Most of the writ petitioners were being paid their salaries till 2012 on the basis of deficit grant as also grant against performance of the students of the college in the academic year.

10. There were many colleges having teachers and non-teaching staff, which were not being funded by the State. It was only later in the day that the education policy, especially with respect to the grant of finances to the colleges underwent a paradigm shift in the State of Bihar and the Government decided to make available grants to all colleges, especially for the purposes of payment of salaries to the teachers and staff.

11. However, to implement that, it required to be ascertained as to which of the teachers were appointed on the recommendation of the Governing Body and were allowed to continue to teach in such colleges later, but without the approval of the Bihar College Service Commission.

12. Be it noted that the initial appointment of such teachers in private colleges were made with a condition that such appointment would be valid only for six months and any further extension of the service of such teachers would be based on the recommendation of the Bihar College Service Commission.

13. This provision was completely ignored for a good number of years. It was later found that there were many teachers whose appointments were not confirmed by the Bihar College Service Commission. The Government also took into account that so many private institutions had come up only for the reason that the Government had stopped opening colleges. These colleges were started by the efforts of private persons and at the time when the policy of the State of Bihar was undergoing change, these colleges had infrastructure, teachers and teaching staff. In this con