KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — The High Court today set October 2 to hear a retired civil servant’s judicial review application against the Malaysian government to expedite pension adjustments.
Lawyer Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu, representing Aminah Ahmad, who retired as a civil servant with the Foreign Ministry, said the court set the date during an online case management session before Deputy Registrar Firdaus Sidqi Sharil Azli.
“The court also directed the respondents (the government and the director-general of Public Service Department) to file their affidavit in reply before or on July 10, and for the plaintiff (Aminah) to file her counter affidavit before or on July 31.
“The court also set the next case management on August 6,” said the lawyer when contacted.
On February 29, the High Court here allowed the woman to proceed with the judicial review after the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) did not object to the application.
Aminah filed the application on January 12 in her personal capacity and on behalf of 56 retired civil servants, naming the government and the Public Service Department (PSD) director-general as respondents.
She is seeking a mandamus order to compel the respondents to expedite the pension adjustments to the qualifying amount following the formula contained in Sections 3 and 6 of the Pensions Adjustment Act 1980 (PAA 1980) before amendments were made under Sections 3 and 7 of the Pensions Adjustment Act (Amendment) 2013 (PAA 2013).
Under the old scheme, the 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.
Aminah initially lost her case at the High Court in 2020. She then appealed to the Court of Appeal, which decided in her favour. The government and the PSD director-general obtained leave to appeal in 2022.
On June 27 last year, the Federal Court affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision that declared the amended pension law as null and void, and the five-member bench also dismissed the appeal by the government and PSD director-general to overturn the appellate court’s decision. — Bernama
