PUTRAJAYA (Jan 21): A three-member Court of Appeal bench on Tuesday reserved its decision on the government's appeal against a High Court ruling last year that favoured army veterans regarding their pension adjustments.
The case involves Major (Rtd) Mior Rosli Mior Md Jaafar and 49 other former army veterans who challenged the government's decision not to adjust the pensions of those who retired before Jan 1, 2013.
Datuk Hashim Hamzah, who led the bench, reserved in delivering the decision after hearing submissions from Senior Federal Council Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi and the army veteran’s counsel Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla.
The other judges who sat with Hashim were Datuk Wong Kian Kheong and Datuk Ismail Brahim.
High Court's ruling
In February last year, Judicial Commissioner Dr Suzana Muhamad Said ruled in favour of Mior Rosli and the other veterans.
Suzana determined that the government and the named defendants had violated Article 137 (Protection of Pensions) and Article 8 (Equality) of the Federal Constitution, read together with Section 187 of the Armed Forces Act 1972.
Suzana found that the veterans who retired before 2013 were entitled to the same pension adjustments as those who retired after.
Government's appeal
The government, together with the prime minister, the senior defence minister and the Armed Forces Council, appealed this decision.
Their lawyer, Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi, argued before the Court of Appeal on Tuesday that the pension adjustments made between 2002 and 2012, following five circulars issued during salary revisions, provided equal treatment to all Malaysian Armed Forces pensioners.
Ahmad Hanir said the difference in pension amounts is not based on the retirement date but on factors like the number of service years, rank and last drawn salary.
He further stressed that the last drawn salary depends on individual service history, including promotion times, time spent in the same grade, and unpaid leave.
Veterans' lawyer argues for gap in pensions
Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, representing the veterans, countered that there's a significant pension gap between pre-2013 and post-2013 retirees.
He cited as an example a general who retired before 2013 receiving RM7,134 compared to RM15,000 for those who retired after with the same rank, reflecting a difference of RM7,866.
“This was stated by (former) senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein. Therefore, there is a clear difference of RM7,866 between the pensioners in that same rank,” Haniff said.
Court reserves judgment
The Court of Appeal's decision in this case will determine whether the government must adjust pre-2013 army veterans' pensions to match those who retired after.
This case follows a recent High Court decision in favour of former civil servant Aminah Ahmad regarding her pension increase.
In Aminah's case, Judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh had ruled that Aminah and other retirees are entitled to a pension increase based on their final salary according to a 2016 Public Services Department circular. The court ordered the government to pay arrears within three months.