International human rights lawyer M Ravi took to his Facebook page on Wednesday (10 July) to announce that he has filed a case in the High Court for Suriia Das to allow him to use his CPF savings from his Ordinary and Special accounts for his wife’s medical treatment.
“My legal team and I filed in the High Court the case of Suriia who is seeking a relief from the court for a Mandatory Order to compel the CPF Board to allow him to transfer to his wife, portion of his CPF funds to her,” he wrote.
It was earlier reported in TOC that CPF Board had denied Mr Suriia’s request to allow his CPF savings in his Ordinary and Special accounts to be transferred to his wife’s Medisave account. This is so the couple can use the money to pay for further treatment and medical expenses that had occurred after his wife, Sarojini Jayapal, 47, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2016.
They had to resort to this move because the couple’s Medisave accounts had been completely used up for Sarojini’s medical expenses.
Looking at this situation, Mr Ravi who is representing Mr Suriia, said that this case engages Section 18D of the CPF Act which allows a CPF member (like Suriia) to transfer a portion of his fund from the Ordinary and Special accounts to his loved one’s account. However, there’s a catch here because according to the CPF Board’s policy, the money can only be transferred to someone who is 55 years of age and above.
As such, Mr Ravi said in his post that, “Suriia also seeks a Declaration from the court that the CPF Board’s policy made pursuant to Section 18D of the CPF Act is unlawful and unconstitutional insofar as it prohibits the transfer of funds from Suriia’s Ordinary and Special accounts to his wife Sarojini’s Medisave account”.
The lawyer also noted that while he is doing his part in taking on the case on a pro bono basis, he requested that people can lend a helping hand to the couple by donating generously to Sorojini’s medical fund. Interested individuals can do so by clicking this link.
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