As per case facts, the Respondent, a railway employee, was promoted years ago and his pay was fixed. After receiving regular increments for a significant period, his basic pay was ... reduced, and a substantial sum was sought to be recovered due to alleged overpayment from wrong pay fixation. The Respondent challenged this, and the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) quashed the recovery orders and directed the petitioners (Railway authorities) to refund the recovered amount and pass a reasoned order on pay re-fixation. The Railway authorities appealed to the High Court, contending that the pay was wrongly fixed due to an inadmissible allowance and that recovery was justified without causing hardship. The question arose whether the recovery of the excess amount paid to the Respondent on account of wrong pay fixation was permissible. Finally, the High Court held that the recovery was impermissible. Citing relevant Supreme Court judgments and subsequent government guidelines, the court found that the excess payment was made for a period exceeding five years before the recovery order, and there was no misrepresentation by the employee. Therefore, recovering the amount would be inequitable and harsh, affirming the CAT's decision and dismissing the Railway's writ petition.