KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court yesterday set April 17 to hear the Inland Revenue Board’s (IRB) application to get a summary judgement in its suit against Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak seeking the former prime minister to pay RM1.69 billion in income tax.
Lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, representing Najib, said the date was set by Justice Datuk Ahmad Bache during the case management in chambers, in the presence of lawyer Muhammad Nabil Abdul Halim, representing IRB.
“The court has also set April 3 for further case management,” he said when met by reporters.
A summary judgement is where a court decides a case without hearing testimony of witnesses.
On Feb 28, the court dismissed Najib’s application for a stay of proceedings of IRB’s suit seeking him to pay RM1.69 billion in income tax, pending an appeal on the tax assessment to IRB.
Ahmad ruled that it was quite premature to stay proceedings at an early stage as there was no judgment (by the court).
On Aug 8, last year, Najib filed an application for a stay of proceedings of the IRB’s suit, however, the IRB, in its supporting affidavit, said that Najib still had to pay the total amount of RM1.69 billion even if he had filed an appeal against the tax assessment.
IRB Monitoring Unit assistant director Hisyamuddin Mohd Hassan, in his supporting affidavit, said that according to Section 103 of the Income Tax Act 1967, all the assessed tax shall be due and payable on the day the notice of assessment is served, whether or not the person appeals against the assessment.
On June 25, last year, the government through the IRB filed the suit against the Pekan MP, seeking him to pay RM1.69 billion in unpaid tax with interest at five per cent a year from the date of judgment, as well as costs and other relief deemed fit by the court. – Bernama
