In Brief
In-service nursing course trainees who were paid excess amounts based on a Single Judge's order (which allowed them deputation benefits) challenged the Division Bench's reversal and the State's right to recover those amounts. The Supreme Court held that restitution principles under Section 144 CPC apply to recover amounts paid pursuant to reversed court orders, regardless of whether employees belong to Class III/IV service. The Rafiq Masih principle limiting recovery only applies to amounts paid by mistake, not to those paid under subsequently reversed orders. The Court upheld recovery but refined the Division Bench's order by mandating recovery in thirty-six equal monthly installments, commencing April 2022, recognizing employees' financial capacity.
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