KUALA LUMPUR: The Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) and lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (pic) are in the process of settling a suit filed over the recovery of RM9.41mil in income tax arrears.
Counsel Datuk Seri Rajan Navaratnam, representing Muhammad Shafee, told High Court Judicial Commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain yesterday that the parties were also seeking an adjournment of the hearing due to the new development.
The court had been scheduled to hear LHDN’s application for a summary judgment against Muhammad Shafee.
A summary judgment is obtained when the court decides on a case through written submissions without a full trial and calling witnesses.
Roz Mawar then set 8.30am on Dec 15 to hear the application for a summary judgment by LHDN.
“If there is no settlement, I have to proceed with the case. This case has gone long enough,” she said, according to Bernama.
Rajan told reporters that both parties were negotiating to explore the possibility of a settlement.
“We just want to see if it can be resolved amicably,” he said.
Senior Revenue Counsel Al-Hummidallah Idrus, representing LHDN, said LHDN had responded to a proposal sent by Muhammad Shafee last month to settle the case.
On Sept 27, 2021, LHDN applied for its suit against Muhammad Shafee, which was filed on May 6, to be decided through summary judgment, on the grounds that the defendant had failed to pay income tax arrears amounting to RM9,414,708.32 within the stipulated time.
LHDN claimed that the lawyer failed to pay the amount of income tax owed for the Assessment Years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016, including the increase on the imposed sum.
On Oct 28 last year, the High Court acquitted and discharged Muhammad Shafee on two charges of receiving proceeds from unlawful activities amounting to RM9.5mil from former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and two charges of making incorrect statements to the LHDN.
