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Free Malaysia Today
4 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Govt, 3 others allowed to appeal over pension adjustment for military retirees
The government, prime minister, defence minister and armed forces council had appealed a High Court decision in favour of 50 ATM retirees who sued over the pension adjustment for those who retired before Jan 1, 2013. PETALING JAYA : The Court of Appeal has ruled that there was no discrimination or constitutional breach in the matter of pension adjustments for retired members of the armed forces (ATM). The unanimous decision by a three-member panel chaired by Justice Hashim Hamzah allows the government, armed forces council, and two other parties to proceed with their appeal. Also on the bench were Justices Wong Kian Kheong and Ismail Brahim, Berita Harian reported. In the summary judgment, Wong said the government's actions were based on reasonable distinctions and did not violate Article 8(1) of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law. 'The distinction between retirees before Jan 1, 2013 and those after that date is legally valid, as it stems from the implementation of two key government documents,' he said. The documents in question are the Guidelines for Implementing Amendments to ATM Service Conditions dated Jan 17, 2013, and the Implementation Letter on Improvements to the Minimum-Maximum Salary Schedule. 'Both documents are not pension adjustment mechanisms for retirees, but amendments to service terms for serving ATM personnel. 'Their objective is to enhance and standardise the pay structure of serving members, not to discriminate against retirees. 'In this case, there is no unequal treatment between pre-2013 and post-2013 retirees, as pension adjustments were also not given to the latter group,' he said. Wong said a clear and reasonable classification exists between the two groups of retirees, with a direct connection to the policy's objective. 'The judicial question was wrongly decided in law when it concluded that unconstitutional discrimination existed. The government's decision is reasonable,' he said. Following the decision, the court allowed the government's appeal and overturned an earlier ruling in favour of the retirees. Outside the courtroom, lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla said his team would study the written judgment before deciding on the next course of action. 'In this case, the next level is the Federal Court. But to proceed, we must file and obtain leave to appeal,' he said. The government, prime minister, defence minister, and armed forces council had appealed a High Court decision in favour of 50 ATM retirees who sued over the pension adjustment for those who retired before Jan 1, 2013. On Feb 5 last year, judicial commissioner Suzana Said ruled that ATM retirees who left service before Jan 1, 2013 were entitled to receive pension adjustments based on the rates and methods applied to those who retired after that date.
Malay Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Retired MAF personnel lose pension adjustment appeal as Court of Appeal rules in government's favour
PUTRAJAYA, June 4 — The Court of Appeal today allowed the appeal by the government and three others to overturn a High Court's ruling that had previously favoured 50 retired Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) personnel in a pension adjustment dispute. In a unanimous decision, the three-member panel chaired by Justice Datuk Hashim Hamzah ruled that the military personnel failed to prove that the Malaysian Government, the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister and the Malaysian Armed Forces Council had breached the provisions under the Federal Constitution. 'We find there is merit in the defendants' appeal that warranted appellate intervention,' said Hashim, who sat with Justices Datuk Wong Kian Kheong and Datuk Ismail Brahim. The judge said the defendants cannot be said to be breaching Article 147 of the Federal Constitution as they have not placed the plaintiffs in a less favourable position. The court allowed the appeal with no orders as to legal costs. Wong, who wrote a supporting judgment, said two documents namely Garis Panduan Pelaksanaan Pindaan Syarat-Syarat Perkhidmatan ATM dated January 17, 2013, and Surat Pelaksanaan Kesetaraan Pangkat dan Penambahbaikan Jadual Gaji Minimum Maksimum bagi Perkhidmatan ATM di bawah SSM dated March 14, 2013, were not salary adjustment but were amendments to the terms of service for serving members of the MAF. He said that the objective is to improve the salary scheme for serving members and not to discriminate against retirees who retired before January 1, 2013. Wong also said that there was no unequal treatment between pensioners who retired before January 1 and those who retired after January 1, 2013, as pension adjustments were not made for retirees after January 1 that year. On February 5 last year, the High Court ruled that all military personnel who retired before January 1, 2013, are entitled to have their pensions adjusted to the rates and methods applied to the retirees who retired after January 1, 2013. The 50 military personnels of various ranks filed an originating summons in the High Court on November 17, 2022, seeking a declaration that the government had violated the provisions in Federal Constitution read together with Section 187 of the MAF Act 1972 for their respective failures to implement new pension adjustments for the MAF retirees who retired before January 1, 2013. They claimed that the government's failures to implement the pension adjustments had caused a significant pension gap between the MAF retirees who retired before January 1 and those who retired after January 1, 2013. In today's proceedings, Federal Counsel M. Kogilambigai appeared for the government while lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla represented the retired personnel. After the court proceeding, Haniff Khatri told reporters that he would study the court's grounds of judgment before deciding whether to bring the matter up to the Federal Court. — Bernama
