PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal here has deferred its decision in an appeal by the government over a judicial review on pension arrears amounting to RM1.7bil involving more than 500,000 pensioners.

Court of Appeal judge Justice Lim Chong Fong said yesterday that the court needed time to deliberate on the submissions before coming to a decision.

Other judges on the panel were Justices Azhahari Kamal Ramli and Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid.

The government is appealing a decision by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Jan 16 that allowed a judicial review filed by retired civil servant Aminah Ahmad.

The High Court ordered the Public Service Department and the government to pay the pension arrears within three months, starting on the date. The arrears, backdated to January 2022, are estimated at RM1.7bil to be disbursed to 531,976 pensioners.

Earlier, the Court of Appeal heard from Senior Federal Counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly, who submitted that the High Court had erred when it allowed Aminah’s judicial review, which sought for civil servants’ pensions to be adjusted based on their last drawn salaries.

SFC Ahmad Hanir said the issues raised in Aminah’s judicial review were decided in an originating summons she filed in 2017.

He contended that as the pension adjustment was the basis for the 2017 originating summons, it should not be raised again in a judicial review.

He explained that the case had become “res judicata” (a matter that has been adjudicated could not be pursued further) and was affected by the principle of estoppel (a legal principle that prevents someone from arguing something they had previously agreed on).

The 2017 originating summons had failed and was subsequently abandoned by the applicant at the appeal stage. Aminah later filed the judicial review application.

Meanwhile, Aminah’s counsel Datuk Abdul Shukor Ahmad refuted claims that the judicial review was an abuse of the court process.

He said it was driven by the continued refusal of the government to adjust the pensions, even after a decision by the Federal Court in 2023.

Aminah, who retired as a civil servant with the Foreign Ministry, filed the judicial review application on Jan 12, 2023, in her capacity and on behalf of 56 retired members of the public service.

She applied for a mandamus order to compel the respondent to expedite the pension adjustment to the rightful amount as outlined in Sections 3 and 6 of the Pension Adjustment Act 1980 (PAA 1980) before amendments were made in Sections 3 and 7 of the Pension Adjustment (Amendment) Act 2013.

She also sought an order for the respondents to pay the pension arrears within 14 days, in addition to a declaratory order stating that the failure to pay violates the Federal Constitution.

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 a 2% annual increment.