1. 1. In all these identical writ petitions, the grievance raised is common and the facts are not in dispute, they were, therefore, heard together and are decided by a common order.

2. It would be proper to briefly notice the facts and circumstances and the background resulting in these writ petitions. The petitioners and many others were appointed as Teachers Gr. III on temporary basis from time to time in the various Panchayat Samities in different years. The appointments were made upto the end of the academic session or till a regularly selected candidate was available and in some cases for six months, whichever was earlier. The State Government issued order on 6-4-1988 taking a policy decision that those teachers who were even appointed on temporary/adhoc basis prior to 31-12-1985 shall be confirmed and made permanent. Those teachers appointed subsequent to 31-12-85 filed the writ petitions challenging the validity of the order issued on 6-4-1988 and contended that there was no nexus between the date of 31-12-1985 and the order dated April 6, 1988. The date of 31-12-1985 was arbitrarily chosen by the State Government. Meanwhile, the selections took place and many person