Muhyiddin’s judgment
debt to Guan Eng stayed
conditionally
The High Court orders the former prime minister to pay RM400,000 by Dec 31 and the RM1 million balance by Jan 27.
Guok Ngek Seong, representing Lim, said Justice Roz Mawar Rozain ordered the former prime minister to pay RM400,000 by Dec 31 and the RM1 million balance by Jan 27.
“She also ordered Muhyiddin to pay Lim RM5,000 in costs,” he told reporters after a hearing held in chambers.
Lawyer Chetan Jethwani, who appeared for Muhyiddin, confirmed the matter.
Lim, a former finance minister, had opposed Muhyiddin’s application to postpone payment of the judgment debt pending the outcome of his appeal from the judgment in the Court of Appeal.
He said the sum ordered against Muhyiddin, although substantial, was not a special circumstance that warranted a stay of execution. Muhyiddin, being a wealthy man, was more than capable of meeting his payment obligations, he added.
Lim had relied on a Cabinet asset declaration list published by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in 2020 which showed Muhyiddin to have owned assets worth between RM10 million and RM15 million, and drawn a monthly income of RM93,841.65.
Muhyiddin filed the stay application on Dec 9, claiming the judgment sum was substantial. He said he needed time to put together the amount involved but was willing to deposit 50% into a fixed deposit account to be held by Lim’s solicitors as stakeholder.
Lim filed a bankruptcy notice against Muhyiddin that same day over the former prime minister’s failure to pay the judgment sum.
The High Court had on Nov 8 ordered Muhyiddin to pay Lim RM1.35 million in damages and RM50,000 in costs over three defamatory statements posted by the former prime minister and Bersatu president on Facebook in March last year.
They claimed that Lim had caused the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) to revoke the tax-exempt status of the Muslim charitable organisation and that, in his capacity as finance minister, he had imposed a tax on the foundation and a 45% penalty on tax payable for preceding years.
Muhyiddin was also found to have defamed Lim by claiming that the instructions to cancel the foundation’s tax-exempt status must have come from Lim as LHDN was under his purview at the time.
Roz Mawar said the three statements implied that Lim had abused his power against Muslims.
Lim filed his lawsuit on March 27, 2023.
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