PUTRAJAYA, June 16 — The government of Malaysia and the director-general of the Public Service Department (PSD) were given the nod by the Apex Court today to pursue their appeal against a Court of Appeal decision that declared an amended pension law null and void.
A three-member panel led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat allowed the government’s application to be given leave to pursue its appeal, with parties at liberty to reformulate any additional questions of law.
The other two judges presiding on the panel were Federal Court judges Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan and Datuk Seri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim.
Earlier, senior federal counsel Liew Horgn Bin, representing the government and PSD, asked the court to grant leave to appeal on three legal questions.
He said the questions have passed Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 as the questions posed were of public importance and to public advantage.
Liew told the court that the Court of Appeal’s decision has affected more than 800,000 pensioners and the issue deserved final determination by the Federal Court.
Among the questions is whether sections 3 and 6 of the Pensions Adjustment Act 1980 as amended by sections 3 and 7 of the Pensions Adjustment (Amendment) Act 2013 contravene Article 147 of the Federal Constitution when a pensioner fails to prove that the adjusted pension received is actually financially less favourable when compared to the former law.
Another question is whether section 3 of the Pensions Adjustment Act 1980 as amended by section 3 of the Pensions Adjustment (Amendment) Act 2013 which enables or empowers the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to prescribe an appropriate higher percentage of increment to be applied to an officer appointed before the coming into effect of the amendment should a less favourable situation arise is in itself in contravention of Article 147 of the Federal Constitution.
Lawyer Chow Siew Wai, representing pensioner Aminah Ahmad, informed the court that he is not objecting to the government’s application for leave to pursue its appeal to the Federal Court, adding that the matter was of public interest that ought to be decided by the Federal Court.
On January 13 this year, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Aminah and granted a declaration that the amendments to sections 3 and 7 to the Pensions Adjustment (Amendment) Act 2013 which came into effect from January 2013 were null and void as they contravened Article 147 of the Federal Constitution.
The appellate court held that with the declarations, the situation prevailing before the amendment to section 3 to the Pensions Adjustment Act 1980 will be revived and continue to apply.
Aminah, who retired as a civil servant with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sued in her personal capacity and on behalf of 56 retired members of the public services, claiming that the amendments to the Pensions Adjustment Act resulted in a situation “less favourable” to her as compared with the preceding retirement adjustment scheme under the Pensions Adjustment Act 1980.
Under the old scheme, a retiree’s pension is revised based on the prevailing salary of incumbent civil servants in that grade. However, the 2013 amendment was introduced based on a flat rate of two per cent annual increment. — Bernama
