What is the scope of judicial review over the executive's fixation of pay scales for a class of government employees or tribunal presiding officers under Article 14 of the Constitution?

Judicial review in such matters is very limited, since pay fixation is an executive function and the equation of posts and salaries is a complex matter best left to an expert body; courts are not suited to evaluate, on the basis of affidavits and pleadings, the justifiability of a differentiation in pay scales, and unless mala fides or an apparent anomaly are shown, the fixation made by expert bodies or Pay Commissions is entitled to be respected.

Pay fixation — Executive function — Limited judicial review — Article 14 — Reasonable classification — Re-employed pensioners — 6th Pay Commission — Pay fixation — Executive function — Limited judicial review — Held: Pay fixation is an executive function, and courts are not suited to evaluate and compare, on the basis of affidavits and pleadings, the justifiability of a differentiation in pay scales, such matters being best left to the executive; unless mala fides are shown, the fixation of pay scales by expert bodies or Pay Commissions is entitled to be respected, and judicial review in matters of classification of posts and determination of pay scale is very limited since the equation of posts and salaries is a complex matter best left to an expert body. (¶5, 6.5) Article 14 — Reasonable classification — Re-employed pensioners a separate class — Held further: Article 14 prohibits class legislation but does not prohibit reasonable classification for the purposes of legislation, and classifying re-employed persons separately from regularly serving officers for the purpose of pay structure and pay fixation, on the basis of a rational and intelligible differentia, satisfies the Equality Clause read with Article 16; re-employed officers cease to be homogeneous vis-a-vis the class of regular officers upon re-employment and can accordingly be denied parity with the pay scales granted to regularly employed officers. (¶6)

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