00:00The battle waged by 57 former civil servants to Kapal Putrajaya to pay 1.7 billion ringgit
00:06in pension arrears adjustments has taken a new twist with the review application filed
00:10in the Court of Appeal.
00:12They claim there was bias by one of the three judges who allowed the government's appeal
00:16and are asking for a fresh Court of Appeal bench to set aside the March 3rd judgement.
00:21Former Foreign Ministry Officer Amina Ahmad said the ruling created a real risk of judicial
00:26bias because one judge had previously expressed a dissenting view on a similar point of law
00:31but did not disclose it.
00:33The appeal was heard by Justice Lim Chong-Fong, Justice Az-Sahari Kamal-Ramli and Justice Miro
00:38Hashimi Abdul Hamid with Az-Sahari delivering the unanimous decision that the government
00:43was not compelled to adjust pensions under a 2016 service circular.
00:47The case stems from the Court of Appeal's 2022 decision annulling the 2013 amendment to
00:52the Pension Adjustment Act 1980 which introduced a flat 2% annual increment for retirees.
00:59The Court ruled that the amendments were unconstitutional as they placed civil service retirees in a less
01:04favorable position contrary to Article 147 of the federal constitution.
01:09Amina and the other applicants then filed a judicial review to restore the pre-2013 formula
01:14linking pensions to salary adjustments for serving civil servants which the High Court allowed in
01:19January 2023 before it was stated pending appeal.
01:23Dhanush Rajareza, FMT
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