Govt, retired judges given one month to settle suit over pension

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has given one month for the government and a group of 35 individuals, comprising former members of the judiciary and seven widows of former judges, to settle a lawsuit on pension issues filed by the latter.

The suit was filed over the alleged failure of the government to fix an appropriate increase in the pension and benefits received by the plaintiffs since 2015.

Lawyer Christopher Leong, acting for the 35 plaintiffs, said this when met after the case management before Judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh yesterday.

“The court gave time for both parties to continue without prejudice discussions to try to achieve a settlement. The court set March 5 for parties to update the court,” he said.

Senior federal counsel Samsul Bolhassan, representing the government, confirmed the matter.

On Oct 6, 2022, the same court had given two months for the government to look into the possibility of the proposed settlement in the suit.

In the suit, filed Jan 24, 2022, the plaintiffs named the government, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the DirectorGeneral of Public Service as the first to the fourth defendants.

The plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that failure to fix through a Government Gazette an appropriate increment of more than two per cent in their pension and other benefits according to Section 15B (2) of the Judges’ Remuneration Act 1971 (Act 45) had violated Articles 125 (7) and 125 (9) of the Federal Constitution.

The plaintiffs are also seeking an order that the second or third defendant (Prime Minister and the Cabinet, respectively) shall advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to fix a higher increment of more than two per cent annually on the pension and other benefits given to them, effective July 1, 2015, according to Section 15B (2) of Act 45.

The plaintiffs also said that under Section 15B of the Judges’ Remuneration Act 1971, the pensions of retired judges and dependents of deceased judges were adjusted automatically based on the current salaries of the serving judges which were reviewed in stages from time to time, as required under Articles 125 (7) and 125 (9) of the Federal Constitution.