KUALA LUMPUR (July 15): Tax breaks for tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary's Yayasan Albukhary were "revoked" during the Muhyiddin administration, and not during Lim Guan Eng’s tenure as the finance minister, the High Court heard on Monday.

Lim's lawyer, Guok Ngek Seong, said this in his opening statement for the defamation suit against former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, over the Bersatu chief's comments that Lim allegedly cancelled tax breaks for the Islamic charitable organisation during his time as the finance minister. 

Referring to a letter from Yayasan Albukhary signed by Syed Mokhtar to Muhyiddin in February 2021 over the withdrawal of the tax exemption, Guok said the contents showed that the tax break was revoked "recently". Lim had left office in February 2020, following the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government. Muhyiddin then became the prime minister in March 2020.

"This letter shows a crystal-clear picture that the issue of revocation of tax exemption for Yayasan Al-Bukhary was made when [Muhyiddin] was the prime minister. The words used by [Syed Mokhtar] were concise and precise — 'baru-baru ini'. It can only mean recently, and by virtue of the letter dated Feb 5, 2021, it could only mean that the revocation [happened] when [Muhyiddin] was the prime minister," Guok said, adding that Lim's name was not mentioned in the letter.

Guok also alleged that Muhyiddin's defence was a "sham", which was full of "lies, baseless, and unsupported".

The lawyer added that Muhyiddin ought to have known the contents of the letter, and the only explanation why he continued to issue the defamatory statements was to use Lim as a scapegoat for his own political survival as he was facing the possibility of criminal charges in court.

Muhyiddin made the series of comments on March 9, 11, and 12 last year on Facebook in a statement to the press. He was charged for graft and money laundering on March 10.

Lim, who is also 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 the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) to impose tax and penalties on a charitable organisation when such organisations should not be taxed.

Lim also claims that the Pagoh MP's statements implied that he was racist, and was intentionally targeting the Islamic charitable organisation.

Both Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Ministry of Finance have also said that Lim did not cancel the approved tax exemption given to Yayasan Albukhary.

In his statement of defence, Muhyiddin claimed that he had received a letter from Syed Mokhtar appealing against the IRB decision not to grant the tax exemption to the organisation.

The Pagoh MP said he had subsequently forwarded the letter to then finance minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz for his consideration, who later allowed the appeal sometime in 2021.

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 accounts, as well as the publication of the apology on all major newspapers and online portals.

The trial before Judicial Commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain continues.

Read also:
Guan Eng says Yayasan Albukhary tax break issue never brought to his attention when he was finance minister
Guan Eng sues Muhyiddin over comments related to Yayasan Albukhary
Yayasan Albukhary: Muhyiddin claims received a letter from Syed Mokhtar appealing IRB's decision, says statements were fair comment
Ex-PM Muhyiddin charged for receiving RM232.5m in bribes and money laundering