Appeals court postpones hearing on LHDN’s bid to recover RM10.3 million from Najib’s daughter

The Court of Appeal today postponed the hearing of an application by the government to challenge the High Court’s dismissal last year of its bid for a summary judgment against the daughter of former prime minister Najib Razak over more than RM10 million in tax arrears.

The hearing of the appeal by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) was initially scheduled to take place today but was postponed to Dec 15, according to the lawyer for Nooryana Najwa as quoted by The Edge.

According to the report, no reason was given for the delay.

Nooryana, Najib’s second child from his marriage to Rosmah Mansor, was named as a defendant in the suit filed by LHDN in July 2019, after she failed to submit individual income tax return forms for the assessment years of 2011 to 2017.

LHDN had sought RM10,335,292.36, interest on the sum at a rate of 5% per annum from the date of judgment to the date of realisation, costs, and other relief deemed appropriate by the court.

The High Court in Shah Alam on Aug 26 last year dismissed LHDN’s application for a summary judgment.

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

The court also found that the certificate exhibited by the government as proof of the amount of tax due and payable was not signed by the LHDN director-general as required under Section 142 of the Income Tax Act 1967.