KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16): The High Court on Wednesday (Feb 16) fixed hearing of senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's stay application in his RM9.41 million income tax case for June 16 before Judicial Commissioner Datuk Mohd Arief Emran Ariffin.

"The court fixed June 16 in the afternoon, to hear our stay of proceedings application," Wee Yeong Kang from Messrs Shafee & Co, who is a counsel for Shafee, told theedgemarkets.com when contacted.

The date was fixed at a case management earlier on Wednesday before High Court senior assistant registrar Nurul Izzah Hasan Basri, with Mohamad Ezmeer Zulkarnaen Asnizar representing the plaintiff (government of Malaysia) and Wee, the defendant Shafee.

Prior to this, the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) had filed an objection against Shafee's application for a stay of proceedings in its suit against him to seek payment of income tax arrears amounting to RM9.41 million, pending the disposal of his appeal to the Special Commissioners of Income Tax of Malaysia.

Shafee, 70, filed the application last year which, among other things, sought an order for the proceedings to be temporarily suspended, pending the outcome of applications filed by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his son Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin Najib at the Federal Court over the payment of income tax amounting to RM1.69 billion and RM37.6 million, respectively, sought by the IRB.

Shafee said that the outcome of the appeals by Najib and his son could affect the suit against him.

However, in the IRB's affidavit in reply filed on Jan 26 and sighted by theedgemarkets, the board claimed that Shafee was abusing the process of the court to delay the claim against him and using Najib's case as a "stepping stone" to stay the case.

The Malaysian government, through the IRB, has filed a suit against Shafee for alleged unpaid taxes of RM9.41 million for years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016.