KUALA LUMPUR – Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has failed in his bid to file a counterclaim against the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) for seeking RM9.41 million in tax arrears from him, reports the News Straits Times.
Judicial commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain had dismissed Shafee’s application as he was not entitled to file a counterclaim against the government.
“Shafee in his submission alleged that IRB had malicious intent in its suit against him.
“He claimed that it was a collateral attack against him for defending former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“Shafee’s counterclaim was against several government entities such as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and Attorney-General’s Chambers.
“Those entities were not involved in this suit... any dissatisfaction against them can be taken elsewhere,” she said in her judgment as quoted by the News Straits Times.
Roz Mawar also ordered Shafee to pay RM5,000 in costs.
Shafee was represented by lawyer Datuk Seri Rajan Navaratnam while senior revenue counsel Al-Hummidallah Idrus represented IRB.
Shafee, who filed the counterclaim on August 11, 2021 said the suit against him is inaccurate, unlawful, and an attempt at preventing him from continuing to represent Najib.
On September 27, 2021, IRB applied for its suit against Shafee to be decided through a summary judgment, on the grounds that the defendant failed to pay the tax arrears amounting to RM9,414,708.32 within the stipulated time.
In October last year, the high court here acquitted and discharged Shafee on two counts of money laundering involving RM9.5 million from Najib and for making false declarations to the IRB. – The Vibes, April 13, 2023
