[UPDATED] Apex court grants stay for Najib, son in RM1.7 bil tax bill suit pending appeal

KUALA LUMPUR– The Federal Court has granted a stay of execution to Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his son Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin Najib from immediately paying RM1.7 billion in tax arrears to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) pending the outcome of their appeals before the apex court.

In reading her brief judgement this morning, Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who chaired a three-member bench, granted the stay of execution following the previous Kuala Lumpur High Court decision on July 22, 2020, which ordered Najib to pay RM1,692,872,924.83 with cost to the government.

A similar order was also granted to Nazifuddin for RM37.6 million in tax arrears to the government.

IRB senior revenue counsel Al-Hummidallah Idrus did not object to the application, while Najib and Nazifuddin were represented by counsel Farhan Shafee.

Other members of the bench also include Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang.

On May 10, this year, Najib and Nazifuddin were given the nod by the Federal Court to proceed with their appeals against the decisions of two separate high courts in allowing the IRB’s applications to enter a summary judgement to recover more than RM1.7 billion in tax arrears from them.

In civil cases, the litigants must first obtain leave before they can proceed with the appeals in the Federal Court.

A summary judgement is obtained when the court decides on a case, through written submissions, without a full trial and calling witnesses.

In 2020, two separate high courts allowed the IRB’s applications to enter a summary judgement to recover tax arrears of RM1.69 billion from Najib and RM37.6 million from Nazifuddin, respectively for the period between 2011 and 2017.

Both Najib and Nazifuddin lost their appeals in the Court of Appeal last September to set aside the summary judgement. – The Vibes, September 21, 2022