JUDGMENT :

SHREE CHANDRASHEKHAR, J.

1. Twenty-one writ petitions challenging the order dated 18th August 2008 passed by the Director, Secondary Education were taken up for hearing together and a decision thereon was rendered on 2nd May 2023; writ petitions were allowed.

2. In this batch of Letters Patent Appeals, the State of Jharkhand seeks to challenge the common order dated 2nd May 2023 passed in the aforementioned batch of writ petitions with a direction for refund of the amount recovered from the writ petitioners.

3. The brief facts of the case are that the respondents were appointed in the government-aided minority institutions on teaching and non-teaching posts. They referred to the decision of the Government of Bihar vide memo No. 2526 dated 11th July 1979 whereunder the salary of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the minority-aided-school was brought equivalent to the staff in the government schools. They have also referred to Resolutions dated 30th August 1980 and 22nd December 1981 whereunder pay-scale, allowances, provident fund, family pension and other monetary benefits were extended to the teaching and non-teaching staff in the minority-aided institutions. They furt