As held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd. Vs. The Workmen that though in fixing the pay structure of the public corporations, due regard should be had to the pay structure in the civil services, the same was only advisory in nature and did not mean that the wage structure of the public corporations should be of the same pattern obtaining in departments of the Government. It was further held that the service conditions of employees in public sector undertakings are not analogous to those of the Government employees; there is no security of service; the fundamental rules do not apply to them; there is no constitutional protection; there is no pension; they are covered by service standing orders; their service conditions are more similar to those of employees in the private sector than those in Government departments. In such circumstances, the question of violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India does not arise as that arises only if the persons are similarly placed. Article 14 does not apply in a vacuum. The equality clause contained in Article 14 will have no application where the persons are not similarly situated or when there is a valid classification based on a reasonable differentia.
