KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Najib Razak has applied to examine five Inland Revenue Board (IRB) officers over their affidavits on the bankruptcy notice against him for failing to pay RM1.69 billion in additional tax arrears.
The former prime minister’s lawyer Wee Yeong Kang, when contacted by Bernama, said the application was filed on September 22, according to Rule 47 of the Insolvency Rules 2017.
Najib, 68, applied for a court order to examine the five officers on the grounds that IRB failed to provide details on how the total tax amount was calculated.
Wee, during online case management before high court deputy registrar Ida Rahayu Sharif today, said the IRB team said it will file an application to strike out the examination application.
“The court then directed IRB to file the application on October 13, and further case management has been set for November 9.”
Senior revenue counsel Al-Hummidallah Idrus, representing IRB in the proceedings, confirmed the matter to Bernama.
The government, through IRB, filed a bankruptcy notice against Najib at the high court here on February 4.
Based on the notice, Najib has to pay RM1.69 billion with a 5% interest rate per annum on the total balance from July 22, 2020 – the date of the high court decision – to February 4, 2021, and the total payable amount as of the latter date stood at RM1,738,804,204.16.
On July 22 last year, the court ruled that he had to pay IRB RM1.69 billion in additional taxes and penalties for the period between 2011 and 2017 after allowing the agency’s application to enter a summary judgment against him.
A summary judgment is when the court decides a particular case summarily, without calling witnesses to testify.
On September 9, the Court of Appeal affirmed the high court’s ruling after dismissing Najib’s appeal over the matter.
He filed an application for leave to appeal at the Federal Court on September 13 following the appellate court’s decision. – Bernama, September 29, 2021
