Najib, Rosmah withdraw bid for documents in Deepak suit

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor today withdrew their application to obtain several documents that have been referred to in a suit filed by Carpet Raya Sdn Bhd director Deepak Jaikishan.

The suit by Deepak, Carpet Raya and his younger brother Rajesh Jaikishan, who is also a director of the company, against Najib, Rosmah and Baling MP Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim was in relation to claims that the couple was responsible for paying the tax arrears owed by them when Deepak had acted as agent and proxy to the couple.

Lawyer Irzan Iswat Mohd Nor, representing Deepak, said today was initially fixed for the hearing of Najib and Rosmah's application for all the documents referred to in his client's statement of claim.

“However, Najib and Rosmah have withdrawn their application and the court subsequently revoked the application without cost," he told reporters after proceedings in chambers before High Court judge Azimah Omar in the presence of counsel Cheryl Chong Wei Teng, representing the couple.

Irzan said the court fixed Aug 5 for case management.

In an application filed in December 2018, Najib and Rosmah applied to obtain several documents including land transactions and tax imposed by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) on land profits and documents involving a financing facility for Rosmah.

The application was filed on the grounds that the couple had no control of such documents and that the existence of the documents was not known to them.

In the suit filed on Nov 15, 2018, Deepak claimed that between 2004 and 2010, he and the company had acted as agent and proxy to Najib and Rosmah in land transaction and business deals as instructed by the couple.

He also claimed that the third defendant (Azeez) had acted as agent for Najib and Rosmah to carry out the transactions and acted as the intermediary between the couple and the second plaintiff, Carpet Raya.

Deepak claimed that as a result of the transactions, he received a letter from the IRB, dated March 2, 2018, to settle the 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, claiming that Azeez had knowledge of the matter.

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 reputation of all the plaintiffs were affected and Deepak was also banned from leaving the country, while their business facilities were withdrawn by Maybank and the company's contract with IKEA was cancelled.

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 contract and sales, RM74 million for cancellation of the company's contract with IKEA, RM200 million for alleged defamation, RM37 million in losses caused by Najib’s misconduct.

They are also seeking RM100 million in aggravated and exemplary damages.

- Bernama