Anwar, govt seek to nullify Mukhriz's RM5m tax suit

Summary

• Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the federal government have filed to strike out the RM5 million tax assessment suit against them by Pejuang president Mukhriz Mahathir.

• The two respondents contend that Mukhriz’s judicial review only involved a tax assessment dispute with the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).

• In the event that the civil court allows the striking out, Anwar and the government would be removed from the ongoing civil action, leaving the IRB as the sole respondent.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the federal government have applied to strike out a RM5 million tax assessment lawsuit against them by the son of ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The two respondents contended that this was because the issue at hand only involved Mukhriz Mahathir's tax assessment dispute with another respondent, the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).

Anwar and the government stated these contentions in their Kuala Lumpur High Court applications to remove them as respondents in Mukhriz's judicial review.

On Dec 20 last year, Mukhriz filed the civil action over claims that IRB's “invalid” RM5 million tax assessment against him was caused by Anwar's long-running feud with Mahathir. On Jan 2 this year, the court granted leave for Mukhriz to proceed with the action.

In an affidavit affirmed by senior federal counsel Nur Irwamawatie Daud from the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) on behalf of Anwar and the government, the two respondents noted that Mukhriz's issue was with IRB's three additional assessment notices issued for assessment years 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Anwar and the government noted that the High Court on Jan 2 this year only granted leave for Mukhriz to commence the judicial review to seek orders to challenge the IRB's decision to issue the tax assessment notices.

Anwar and the government noted that the civil court ruling did not allow Mukhriz to seek multiple other additional reliefs, among them a declaration that the sitting premier had allegedly committed an abuse of power by causing IRB to issue the tax assessment notices.

The two respondents contended that as a result there is no longer a need to maintain them as listed respondents in the judicial review.

"This action is clearly frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of court process that is obviously unsustainable and should be struck out by this honourable court," Anwar and the government contended through the affidavit sighted by Malaysiakini.

IRB as sole respondent

In the event that the court allows the striking-out bid, Anwar and the government would be dropped from the judicial review, leaving only IRB as the sole respondent.

At present, there is a civil court order to stay the IRB's tax assessment, pending the disposal of Mukhriz's ongoing judicial review.

When contacted, Mukhriz's lawyer Nizamuddin Abdul Hamid said they are mulling their response to the latest application by Anwar and the government.

According to the judicial review documents, Mukhriz claimed the additional tax assessment for the years 2017 to 2019 - issued in September last year – was unreasonable and unlawful.

The applicant contended that the IRB's actions were affected by Anwar's long-standing enmity against Mahathir, citing the Tambun MP’s expulsion from the Finance Ministry and Umno in 1998.

"Since the second respondent's (Anwar) expulsion from Umno and deputy prime minister position, it is widely known that the second respondent and Mahathir were political foes," Mukhriz said.

Anwar-Mahathir enmity

The applicant contended that the political rivalry happened even after a brief cooperation between Anwar and Mahathir for the Pakatan Harapan administration from 2018 to 2020.

Mukhriz noted that Anwar's political motive is displayed by MACC's investigation against his siblings Mokhzani and Mirzan.

Mukhriz claimed Anwar's enmity was also driven by a defamation suit filed against the sitting premier by Mahathir.

The former Kedah menteri besar pointed out that Mahathir's civil action was over an allegation that the family's wealth was due to the ex-premier's alleged corrupt acts when in power.

Mukhriz claimed that Anwar had made false and premature accusations against Mahathir's family.

The IRB's disputed tax assessment was RM2,558,875.90 for 2017; RM2,445,004.91 for 2018; and RM16,826.37 for 2019.

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