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PUTRAJAYA – Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his son Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin have succeeded in their applications to stay bankruptcy proceedings against them.
A three-member Court of Appeal panel chaired by Justice Datuk Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab ruled in their favour after finding that the issues raised before the Special Commissioners of Income Tax were sufficiently serious to warrant a stay.
In delivering the unanimous decision, Alwi said the stay of the bankruptcy proceedings would not cause or prejudice the interests of the government as the respondent.
Alwi, sitting with Justices Datuk Dr Shahnaz Sulaiman and Datuk Ong Chee Kwan, said the 73-year-old former Pekan MP, as the appellant, would also not suffer any irreparable harm.
On June 25, 2020, the government filed a suit against Najib seeking RM1,692,872,924.83, while Nazifuddin was ordered to pay RM37.6 million.
The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) claimed that the sums involved outstanding income tax for the Years of Assessment 2011 to 2017.
On July 22 of the same year, the High Court ordered Najib to pay the outstanding income tax to the IRB.
Then High Court judge Datuk Ahmad Bache, who has since retired, allowed the IRB’s application for summary judgment against the former leader.
A summary judgment allows a court to make a decision without a full trial, including the process of hearing witness testimony.
The father and son subsequently appealed against the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision on Nov 17, 2025, which dismissed their applications to stay the bankruptcy proceedings.
The applications were made pending the disposal of their appeals before the Special Commissioners of Income Tax (SCIT), challenging the additional tax assessments issued by the IRB.
Najib and Nazifuddin had previously challenged the summary judgments against them, but their appeals to the Court of Appeal and subsequently the Federal Court were dismissed.
Following this, bankruptcy notices were issued against both of them.
They then applied to stay the proceedings, but on July 29, 2024, High Court Deputy Registrar Kamarul Aris Kamalluddin dismissed their applications.
Najib and his son appealed the decision at the High Court but were unsuccessful, leading to the appeal before the Court of Appeal.
