PUTRAJAYA: A group of 57 pensioners is seeking a review of the Court of Appeal decision and rehearing of their appeal over RM1.7bil in pension adjustment arrears.
Lawyer Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu, when contacted on Friday (April 24), confirmed that the application for review had been filed.
According to a notice of motion filed on April 10, the pensioners are asking the appellate court to review its earlier decision, which had set aside a High Court order.
The order had directed the Public Service Department (PSD) director-general and the government to pay pension arrears amounting to RM1.7bil to 531,976 pensioners.
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The payment was to be calculated based on the pensioners' final salary, in accordance with a 2016 PSD circular.
The pensioners are also requesting that their appeal be reheard before a different panel of judges.
The pensioners contend that the Court of Appeal's decision dated March 9 should be set aside because it was made under circumstances giving rise to a real danger of bias, thereby breaching the rules of natural justice and rendering the decision unsafe.
A case management for the application for review has been fixed for Tuesday (April 28).
In 2022, the Court of Appeal ruled that the 2013 amendment to the Pensions Adjustment Act (PAA) 1980 was unconstitutional, as it was deemed less favourable to pensioners than the previous version.
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The government and the PSD director-general obtained leave to appeal to the Federal Court.
However, the Federal Court dismissed the appeal, thereby upholding the Court of Appeal's decision.
Subsequently, retired civil servant Aminah Ahmad filed a judicial review in her personal capacity and on behalf of 56 other pensioners, seeking to compel the PSD and government to adjust their pensions based on the pre-2013 formula under the PAA.
On Jan 16 last year, High Court judge Justice Datuk Amarjeet Singh (now a Court of Appeal judge) allowed the judicial review.
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He ordered the PSD director-general and the government to pay the arrears within three months from the date of the judgment.
However, the Court of Appeal later overturned that decision after allowing an appeal filed by the PSD director-general and the government.
The pensioners have also filed an application with the Federal Court seeking leave to appeal against the appellate court’s decision. – Bernama
