Lawyer Shukor Ahmad said the government’s notice of appeal was filed at the High Court registry here yesterday.
“They have extended a copy of the notice for our attention,” he told FMT.
On Jan 16, Justice Amarjeet Singh said a service circular issued in 2016 had the effect of a salary revision for government servants.
Amarjeet said that, as a result, government pensioners were entitled under the Pensions Adjustment Act 1980 (PAA) to pensions corresponding to the adjusted salary.
“Given the Federal Court ruling (that dismissed the government’s appeal), the backdated pension is to be paid beginning January 2022 (the date of the Court of Appeal ruling) until the next salary revision,” he said.
He ordered the director-general of the public services department (JPA) to make the pension payments within three months from Jan 16.
He also refused an oral application for a stay made by federal counsel M Kogilambigai.
Shukor, who appeared with Baljit Singh Sidhu, said the government had yet to file a formal stay application as directed by the judge.
“I believe the application will follow suit since they have now filed a notice of appeal,” he said.
On Feb 29, 2024, the High Court here granted former civil servant Aminah Ahmad and her co-applicants leave to commence judicial review proceedings after the attorney-general raised no objection.
The application named the government and the JPA director-general as respondents.
It sought to compel the respondents to implement adjustments to their pensions in accordance with the formula prescribed in Sections 3 and 6 of the PAA before amendments to the law were made in 2013.
Under the old scheme, a retiree’s pension was to be revised based on the prevailing salary of incumbent civil servants in the same grade.
The 2013 amendments introduced a flat-rate annual increment of 2%.
Aminah lost her initial suit in the High Court in 2020.
However, the Court of Appeal in 2022 overturned the decision, ruling that the amendments to the PAA in 2013 were null and void as they had put the applicants in a less favourable position than previously, in breach of Article 147 of the Federal Constitution.
On June 27, 2023, a five-member Federal Court bench upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision.