Najib drops bid to recuse lawyer DP Naban from IRB's RM1.69b suit against him

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 19): Senior lawyer Datuk DP Naban from Lee Hishammuddin Allen and Gledhill will be appearing for the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) in its RM1.69 billion claim of unpaid taxes against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak at the High Court.

This follows the withdrawal of Najib's application to challenge Naban's appointment by Najib's lawyer Muhammad Farhan Shafee, after Naban's letter of appointment was produced in court and shown to Najib's lawyers.

Farhan was speaking to reporters after meeting Justice Datuk Ahmad Bache in chambers today, along with senior federal counsels Norhishaam Ahmad and Al-hummidallah Idrus.

Today was initially fixed for disclosure of Naban's letter of appointment, based on the Government Proceedings Act 1956 (GPA) and for the judge to decide on Najib's bid to have Naban's recusal, Farhan said.

"However, following the exchange of affidavits, the IRB decided to give us the letter of appointment voluntarily. We had a chance to study the letter of appointment that was tendered in court and saw everything was in order.

"Following that, we decided to withdraw the application to recuse Naban," Farhan added. Lawyer Wee Yeong Kang also appeared for Najib.

Naban's appointment was made under Section 24(3) of the GPA, which stipulates that an advocate and solicitor of the High Court retained by the attorney general in civil proceedings — by or against the federal government or a federal officer, or by the legal adviser, or, in the case of Sabah and Sarawak, by the state attorney general — may appear as advocate on behalf of such government or officer in such proceedings.

It was reported in November that Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had questioned the appointment of Naban to the case, and wanted the senior lawyer to show the letter of his appointment.

Following today's development, Justice Ahmad fixed Jan 7 for the court to set the dates to hear Najib's application for a stay of proceedings, together with IRB's application to obtain a summary judgment.

It was on June 25 that the government, through the IRB, filed the suit against Najib to seek the payment of RM1.69 billion in unpaid tax with 5% interest per year from the date of judgment, costs, and other reliefs deemed fit by the court.

Najib is presently facing graft, money laundering and abuse of power charges in relation to 1Malaysia Development Bhd and its former subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd.

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