KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has fixed Jan 28 next year to deliver its decision on a suit filed by a group of 19 people, comprising former members of the judiciary and widows of former judges, against the government and three others over the alleged failure to provide an appropriate increase in their pensions and benefits since 2015.
Judge S. Indra Nehru fixed the date after hearing submissions by counsel Christopher Leong, representing the plaintiffs, and Senior Federal Counsel Mohammad Sallehuddin Md Ali, who appeared for the defendants.
Earlier, Mohammad Sallehuddin submitted that the originating summons (OS) should be dismissed as the plaintiffs' action had become academic, as there was no longer any actual controversy between the plaintiffs and the defendants that would affect the parties in any way.
Leong countered that the declaration sought could not be considered academic, as it would set a precedent for other retired judges affected by the same issue.
Previously, 36 people, comprising former members of the judiciary and widows of former judges, were named as plaintiffs in the suit filed in Jan 2022.
However, 17 people have been removed as plaintiffs from the suit, including former Chief Judges of Malaya Tan Sri Siti Norma Yaakob, who died in March this year, and Tan Sri Haidar Mohamed Nor, as well as former Court of Appeal judge Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, who is also a former Dewan Rakyat speaker.
In the suit, retired judges, including former Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, named the government, the prime minister, the cabinet and the director-general of public service as the first to fourth defendants.
The plaintiffs seek a declaration that the failure to fix, through a government gazette, an appropriate increment of more than two per cent in their pensions and other benefits pursuant to Section 15B(2) of the Judges' Remuneration Act 1971 had violated Articles 125(7) and 125(9) of the Federal Constitution.
They are also seeking an order that the second or third defendants, namely the prime minister and the cabinet, respectively, advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to fix a higher annual increment of more than two per cent in their pensions and other benefits, effective July 1, 2015, pursuant to Section 15B(2) of Act 45.
The plaintiffs also said that, pursuant to Section 15B of the Judges' Remuneration Act 1971, the pensions of retired judges and dependants of deceased judges were adjusted automatically based on the current salaries of serving judges, which were reviewed in stages from time to time, as required under Articles 125(7) and 125(9) of the Federal Constitution.
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