IRB’s application for summary judgment against Najib rescheduled to June 22

The hearing on the Inland Revenue Board's (IRB) application for a summary judgment against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak over the payment of RM1.69 billion in income tax has been postponed to June 22.

A summary judgment is where a court decides a case without hearing the testimony of witnesses.

Najib's counsel, Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, said the hearing was initially set on May 5, but it had to be vacated following the enforcement of the conditional movement control order by the government.

"The court fixed the new date during an e-review proceeding and the hearing will be heard at 2pm before judge Ahmad Bache,” he told Bernama today.

E-review proceedings entail online management of cases conducted by officers of the court and lawyers, thus removing the need to physically attend court.

The court had on February 28 dismissed Najib's application for a stay of proceedings of the IRB's suit seeking him to pay RM1.69 billion in income tax pending an appeal on the tax assessment to IRB.

On August 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 the former prime minister 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 percent a year from the date of judgment, as well as costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

- Bernama