Najib and Rosmah win case against Deepak Jaikishan
(FMT) – The Court of Appeal affirmed today a High Court ruling to strike out a suit filed by Najib Razak, his wife Rosmah Mansor and Baling MP Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim against Carpet Raya Sdn Bhd and its two directors over taxes incurred for allegedly acting as proxies for the couple.
A three-member bench chaired by Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah said the statement of claim “is obviously unsustainable” and was bound to fail if it was to proceed to trial.
“We find that the learned judicial commissioner is correct in finding that there is a plain and obvious case for striking out.
“We find no merit in both the appeals. The decision of the High Court is affirmed,” said Zabidin, who sat with Azizah Nawawi and S Nantha Balan.
Najib, Rosmah and Azeez filed the application in September 2019 on grounds that the tax suit was vexatious and the plaintiffs had no cause of action to sue them.
On July 16 last year, judicial commissioner Quay Chew Soon allowed the strike out.
In their suit filed in November 2018, Carpet Raya directors Deepak Jaikishan and his brother J Rajesh claimed that between 2004 and 2010 they had acted as agent and proxy for Najib and Rosmah in land transactions and business deals as instructed by the couple.
Deepak also claimed that Azeez acted as agent for Najib and Rosmah to carry out the transactions and as the intermediary between the couple and Carpet Raya.
He claimed that as a result of the transactions, he received a letter from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) in March 2018 to settle arrears in tax owed by Carpet Raya and his income tax, totalling more than RM6 million, excluding penalty charges and interest.
Deepak claimed that he received the letter from IRB after his relations with the couple soured in 2012 following his refusal to follow their instructions in a civil case involving private investigator P Balasubramaniam.
The plaintiffs claimed that Najib and Rosmah also ordered legal action to be taken by IRB against Carpet Raya and a winding-up petition was filed against the company on March 22, 2017, by the IRB and the petition was published in newspapers.
They claimed that as a result of the petition, the business and their reputation were affected and Deepak was also banned from leaving the country.
Their business facilities at Maybank were withdrawn and the company’s contract with IKEA was also revoked.
They are seeking a court declaration that Najib and Rosmah are responsible for paying the tax arrears owed by the company.
They are also seeking damages of RM500,000 which was paid to Maybank, RM47 million for the company’s inability to fulfil its contracts and sales, RM74 million for cancellation of the company’s contract with IKEA, RM200 million for alleged defamation and RM37 million in losses caused by Najib’s alleged misconduct.
