The Court of Appeal’s ruling against pension arrears for 531,000 retirees is final, with legal experts saying further challenges are now unlikely to succeed.
PETALING JAYA: The Court of Appeal’s decision to overturn a High Court order for the government to pay RM1.7 billion in pension arrears to about 531,000 retirees has effectively drawn a legal line under the long-running dispute, with a legal analyst saying the ruling makes further court challenges unlikely to succeed.
Former Selangor Bar chairman Kokila Vaani Vadiveloo (pic) said the appellate court relied on established legal doctrines – res judicata and abuse of process – in ruling that the issue had already been determined in earlier litigation involving retiree Aminah Ahmad.
Res judicata is a legal principle that prevents the same dispute from being heard again once it has been conclusively decided by a court.
“The doctrine of res judicata states that a matter which has been finally determined by a court of competent jurisdiction cannot be re-litigated by the same parties or their privies in a later suit.
“In this case, the Court of Appeal viewed the issues raised in the judicial review as substantially connected to Aminah’s earlier 2017 originating summons which challenged the legality of Sections 3 and 7 of the Pensions Adjustment (Amendment) Act 2013,” she told theSun.
She added that the court also applied the doctrine of abuse of process, which refers to the misuse of legal proceedings for an ulterior purpose.
“The doctrine of abuse of process involves the misuse of legal process for an ulterior purpose.
“The Court of Appeal held the view that the filing of the judicial review application was an abuse of process intended to relitigate the issue of payment of arrears in the pension adjustment.”
She also said the appellate court ultimately regarded the latest application as an attempt to reopen a matter that had already been conclusively determined.
“The Court of Appeal determined that Aminah Ahmad’s 2024 judicial review was an impermissible attempt to relitigate the entitlement to pension arrears, an issue already decided against her in the 2017 originating summons action in which she failed to prove financial loss.
“Justice Azhahari’s reasoning that the Public Service Department Circular No. 1/2016 should have been raised in the 2017 case reflects the legal principle that parties must bring forward all claims and issues that could and ought to have been raised in earlier proceedings.”
The Sun Malaysia
