JUDGMENT :

P.B.Suresh Kumar, J.

Does sanctioning of teaching posts in private colleges coming under the Direct Payment Scheme of the State Government in terms of Section 59(1) of the Mahatma Gandhi University Act, 1985 (the Act) consequent on sanctioning of new courses relate back to the date of sanctioning of the courses, is the question which we are called upon to answer in this appeal.

2. The appeal arises from W.P.(C) No.8704 of 2021. The State and its officials in the Directorate of Collegiate Education who were respondents 1 to 3 in the writ petition are the appellants. Parties and documents are referred to in this judgment, unless otherwise mentioned, as they appear in the writ petition.

3. The facts, sans unnecessary details, are the following:

(i) After a due process of selection, the petitioners were appointed as Assistant Professors in Hindi and Malayalam in the fifth respondent, the Cochin College (the College) on 22.01.2018. The College is one coming under the Direct Payment Scheme. Earlier, when the workload in Hindi and Malayalam in the College increased on account of two additional courses sanctioned to the college viz, B.Sc. Botany and Plant Bio-technology and B.Com, th