KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 24): The government and Public Services Department (PSD) have filed an appeal over the High Court’s decision in the case involving Aminah Ahmad and more than 50 other pensioners.

A notice of appeal was filed by the Attorney General's Chambers on Jan 23 stating that they are appealing the entirety of High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh’s decision that in effect gave pension increments to entitled civil servant retirees.

The decision by Amarjeet, while over an action by Aminah on behalf of 57 other retirees, will affect an estimated 930,000 former civil servants.

Amarjeet had approved the increments based on their final salary according to the PSD’s 2016 circular, effective January 2022. He directed the Public Services Department and the government through a mandamus order to pay the arrears within three months.

In his grounds, Amarjeet dismissed two circulars issued in 2013 by the PSD as they do not amount to a salary revision but an enhancement to the salary. However, he said the 2016 circular has the effect of a salary revision for all civil servants, and hence the pensioners are entitled to the increment.

He also refused an oral application for a stay of his order and the court made no order as to costs.

Aminah, a former Wisma Putra staff member who retired in 2002, named the government and the PSD director-general in the action whereby earlier, she represented 57 others who had failed at the High Court level to challenge the Pension Adjustment Act 2013 (PAA 2013).

In January 2022, a three-member Court of Appeal bench allowed Aminah’s appeal and declared PAA 2013 null and void as Sections 3 and 6 of the amendment were unconstitutional.

She claimed that the PAA 2013 amendment, which had brought about a flat rate of a 2% increment, was unconstitutional compared to the PAA 1980, which was more favourable, since the pension of government retirees was revised based on the prevailing salary of incumbent civil servants at that grade.

The COA’s unanimous decision in January 2022, written by then-judge Datuk Darryl Goon Siew Chye, agreed that the PAA 2013 amendment may result in a less favourable position, contravening Article 147 of the Federal Constitution.

Article 147, which spells out protection of pension rights, stipulates: The law applicable to any pension, gratuity or other like allowance (in this constitution referred to as an “award”) granted to a member of any of the public services, or to his widow, children, dependants, or personal representatives, shall be that in force on the relevant day or any later law not less favourable to the person to whom the award is made.

Goon — who had sat with Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Datuk Abu Bakar Jais (both Federal Court judges now) — found that the 2% increment in the PAA 2013 to be unreasonable.

He noted Section 3(2) provides that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may prescribe different percentages of increment for different categories of recipients to remedy the situation.

In allowing Aminah’s appeal, the Court of Appeal ordered that the revision be based prospectively effective from its January 2022 decision, and not retrospectively from the PAA 2013 that had been declared null and void.

Goon’s unanimous decision was upheld in June 2023 by the Federal Court led by Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, the then-chief judge of Malaya, who concurred that the PAA 2013 amendment is less favourable to pensioners.

“We find no reason to depart from the Court of Appeal judgement. Hence, the apex court finds no merit in the appeal by the government and the PSD director general, and the appeal is dismissed,” Zabidin had said.

Aminah then filed an application in 2023 to compel the government and PSD to abide by the apex and Court of Appeal decision to enforce their entitled arrears.

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