8th Pay Commission: Who is Chairperson Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, former Supreme Court judge?
In a statement last Friday, it was stated that the 8th Central Pay Commission (CPC) had received numerous requests to interact with the panel in Delhi between 28-30 April 2026. He also added that more meetings would be held in the national capital and other states and union territories “in due course” in the coming months.
The 8th CPC, constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, will take major decisions on salary hikes and adjustment factor, on the basis of which updated compensation for central government employees and retirees will be finalised. It had published its Terms of Reference (ToR) in November last year and since then there has been much speculation about salary increases, delays, changes and the implementation of proposed changes to pension structures.
8. What decisions will the Salary Commission make?
The Pay Commission is a government panel set up every 10 years to review the pay, allowances and pensions of central government employees and retired veterans. It is also responsible for the wider impact of these revisions on contributions, pension rights and government spending.
The current panel consists of eight panels constituted by the central government since Independence. It is chaired by Former Supreme Court Judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. Other members on the panel are Member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, Professor Pulak Ghosh, tenured Professor of Finance, as Member-Secretary, and Pankaj Jain, former IAS, as Member-Secretary.
The panel will gather views and input from labor unions, worker groups, ministries, pension institutions and other similar stakeholders; These will then be analyzed to decide on allowances, pension formula and salary structures for relevant groups of employees and retirees.
Who is Chief Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai?
Born in Mumbai on October 30, 1949, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai completed her Bachelor of Arts and LL.M. from Elphinstone College in 1970. degree from the Government Law Faculty in 1973.
According to his profile on the official 8th CPC website, before becoming a judge, he joined the legal profession on July 30, 1973, working as an assistant in the office of Late Justice SC Pratap, where he had the opportunity to appear in various civil and criminal cases.
Justice Desai also worked with his father Late SG Samant, an eminent criminal lawyer. In 1979, he was appointed Government Advocate in the Appellate Side of the Bombay High Court. In 1986, he was appointed as the Special Public Prosecutor of the Bombay High Court for preventive detention matters. On 1 November 1995, he was appointed as the Chief Government Advocate for the Appellate Parties of the Bombay High Court. On 5 April 1996, the Bombay High Court Bench. He was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 13 September 2011.
After retiring from the high court, he was appointed President of the Electricity Appellate Tribunal with effect from 1 December 2014 and served in this position until 30 November 2017. His next term was as President of the Electrical Appellate Tribunal. He was appointed as the President of the Income Tax Advance Decision Authority, effective from 2 July 2018, and served in this position until 29 October. 2019.
He was appointed as the Chairman of the Delimitation Commission of India with effect from 6 March 2020 and continued in this position until 5 May 2022, when the Commission under his chairmanship completed its mandate and submitted the final Delimitation report for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Justice Desai: A series of Presidential roles…
During his career, Justice Desai also served as the Chairman of the Search Committee to recommend names for the posts of President and Member of the Lokpal.
He served as the Chairman of the Committee constituted by the Government of Uttarakhand on 27 May 2022 to prepare a report to enable the Government of Uttarakhand to frame a Uniform Civil Code for the State. He currently chairs the Committee constituted by the Government of Gujarat for a similar purpose.
He was appointed as the Chairman of the Press Council of India by Gazette Notification dated 17 June 2022 and continued in this position until 16 December 2025.
He currently serves as the Chairman of the Eighth Central Pay Commission, as per the Gazette Notification dated 3 November 2025.
