KUALA LUMPUR (April 26): Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin claimed that he had received a letter from Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary appealing against the Inland Revenue Board's (IRB) decision not granting the tax exemption given to charitable organisation, Yayasan Albukhary.
Muhyiddin had subsequently forwarded the letter he received at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to then finance minister, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz for his consideration, who later allowed the appeal.
According to statement of defence filed by his lawyers, Muhyiddin said he was aware that the Minister of Finance (MOF) had allowed the appeal by Yayasan Al-Bukhary sometime in 2021.
Muhyiddin said this in his statement of defence in the ongoing defamation suit Lim Guan Eng had filed against the Perikatan Nasional chairman, over his comments regarding the "cancellation" of tax-exemption status for the Islamic charitable organisation while Lim was finance minister.
In the court document, filed by his lawyers at Chetan Jethwani & Company on Tuesday (April 25), Muhyiddin said that Yayasan Al-Bukhary was given a tax exemption under Section 127(3A) of the Income Tax Act 1967 by the previous Barisan Nasional government.
He added that the tax exemption was not honoured by the IRB while Lim was in office.
As he had seen MOF's letter to Syed Mokhtar "sometime in 2021", allowing the appeal he said that he could draw the conclusion that the tax exemption was cancelled.
"The defendant is therefore allowed to draw an inference and conclude that the tax exemption was cancelled, or else there would be no need for an appeal to be made or allowed by MOF in 2021," he said.
Lim, a former Penang chief minister, filed the suit summons through his lawyers at Guok Partnership, against Muhyiddin over alleged defamatory statements the former prime minister made on three occasions last month.
'Reliance on Anwar's statement a deflection'
In a gist, the Bagan Member of Parliament (MP) claims that the defamatory statements implied that he had abused his position and power as the then finance minister by authorising or instructing the IRB to impose tax and penalties on a charitable organisation when it should not be taxed. This, he said, also implied that he had committed a criminal offence while in office.
Lim also claims that the Pagoh MP's statements implied that he was racist, anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and was intentionally targeting the Islamic charitable organisation.
Calling Muhyiddin a "political rival", Lim said that the Bersatu chief made the statements maliciously to deflect attention from the graft charges the latter faces in the court, and this was clear from the timing the statements were issued.
Both Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the MOF have said that Lim did not cancel the approved tax exemption given to Yayasan Albukhary.
Anwar commented on the matter in Parliament on March 21, while the MOF released a statement two days later. In its statement, the MOF said that neither Lim nor the ministry's officials had cancelled the approved tax exemption.
Despite this, Muhyiddin claimed that he wanted Lim to prove that the latter did not revoke the tax-exempt status.
He added that Anwar's statements on the matter was "wholly irrelevant" and Lim's reliance on it is a form of "deflection", to be held accountable for IRB's actions while he helmed the MOF.
'Fair comments, matter of public interest'
In his statement of defence, Muhyiddin also said that the facts in his statements were true in substance and his opinions were a matter of public interest and were fair comment as both him and Lim are "seasoned politicians" who are accountable to the public.
He added that he has a "legitimate social and moral interest" in conveying the said information to the public.
Lim is seeking, among others, general, aggravated and punitive damages to be determined by the court.
He is also seeking an injunction for Muhyiddin or his agents from reiterating similar statements, and for the statements to be removed from Muhyiddin's Facebook account.
Lim also wants an apology and retraction of all statements through Muhyiddin's Facebook and Twitter account, as well as publishing the apology on all major newspapers and online portals.