SHAH ALAM: The High Court on Tuesday granted Toh Puan Na'imah Abdul Khalid, wife of the late former Finance Minister Tun Dr Daim Zainuddin, permission to initiate judicial review proceedings to annul the RM313.8mil tax claim by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN).
Lawyer S Saravana Kumar, representing Na'imah, 68, said the court found the application for judicial review had merit.
Speaking outside the court, he said High Court Judge Dr Shahnaz Sulaiman made this decision after rejecting the Attorney General's Chambers' objection.
He stated that the court found Na'imah's application was neither trivial nor vexatious, and there were legal questions that needed to be heard substantively.
“We have two weeks to serve notice to LHDN,” he said, accompanied by lawyer Dharshini Sharma.
Na’imah was not present for the proceedings and was represented by her lawyers.
In the proceedings, Federal Counsel Sheryn Yong appeared on behalf of the Attorney General's Department.
On October 18, 2024, the High Court ordered Na'imah to pay RM313.82mil in outstanding income tax to LHDN.
Earlier, on August 19 of the same year, Na'imah filed an application for judicial review against the LHDN notice for additional tax related to the 2018 assessment year.
In her supporting affidavit, Na’imah claimed the tax assessment against her was based on baseless claims.
Initially, the High Court Judge dismissed her application for an interim stay on the Notice of Assessment.
At that time, the court found no exceptional circumstances justified Na'imah's application for an interim stay and emphasised the respondent's authority to enforce tax collection under the Income Tax Act 1967.
In its judgment, it was stated that tax payment must be made regardless of the amount, even during ongoing legal disputes.
Consequently, Na'imah appealed the High Court Judge's decision in the Court of Appeal and filed a Notice of Motion for a stay.
The Court of Appeal judges, on October 28 of the same year, unanimously decided to grant a stay to Na'imah until the appeal hearing.
