High court to hear Nooryana Najwa’s bid to stay IRB suit on May 14

FORMER Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak’s daughter, Nooryana Najwa Mohd Najib, has filed an application for a stay of lawsuit proceedings brought by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) asking her to pay RM10.3 million in unpaid income taxes from 2011 to 2017.

The stay application will be heard on May 14 before Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Datuk Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali.

Nooryana Najwa filed the stay application pending the outcome of her appeal to review the tax assessment with the IRB.

Based on information posted on the court website, the hearing is supposed to be heard on April 13, but the date was vacated to May 14 following the extension of the Movement Control Order by the government.

The court also set the same date to hear IRB’s application to get a summary judgement in the suit.

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

On July 24, 2019, the government as the plaintiff filed a writ of summons and statement of claim through the IRB, naming Nooryana Najwa, 31, as the defendant.

According to the statement of claim, the plaintiff alleged that Nooryana Najwa had failed to submit the individual income tax return forms to the IRB, under Section 77 of the Income Tax Act 1967 for the years of assessment from 2011 to 2017.

The IRB contended that to date, the defendant still failed to pay the amount of income tax owed including the increases, worth a total of RM10,335,292.36.

The plaintiff is seeking from the defendant a sum of RM10,335,292.36, interest on the sum of RM10,335,292.36 at a rate of 5% per annum from the date of judgement to the date of realisation, costs and other relief deemed appropriate by the court. — Bernama