EX-FINANCE minister Lim Guan Eng today filed a defamation suit against Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin over the latter’s refusal to apologise for asserting that Lim had revoked the tax exemption status of the  Albukhary Foundation. 

According to a copy of the civil action statement of claim, Lim alleged that Muhyiddin defamed him via statements published on three separate dates: March 9 and 11 via Facebook and March 12 when interviewed by the press. 

Lim alleged that despite the letter of demand, Muhyiddin, via a reply from his solicitors dated March 21, refused to accede to the plaintiff’s demand for an apology, among others. 

Lim is now seeking Muhyiddin’s apology and retraction of all three defamatory statements through the defendant’s Facebook and Twitter accounts as well as an apology carried in all newspapers in Malaysia and a few online news portals within seven days from the date of judgment. 

On March 22, Lim lodged a police report against Muhyiddin over the latter’s remarks regarding the alleged revocation of tax exemption for the Albukhary Foundation. He claimed the issue was deliberately played up to spread negative sentiment. 

Muhyiddin, during a press conference outside the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Putrajaya on March 9, alleged that Lim, during his tenure as finance minister, had revoked the tax exemption previously granted to the Albukhary Foundation. 

But Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in the Dewan Rakyat on March 21 confirmed that Lim, as the then finance minister, did not revoke the said exemption. 

Anwar said the allegation was untrue, and that the tax exemption for the Albukhary Foundation was only given on February 25, 2021, when Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional government was in power. 

Anwar said under subsection 44(6) of the Income Tax Act 1967, tax exemptions are not under the jurisdiction of ministers or the prime minister, but under the sole authority of the Inland Revenue Board director-general. – March 27, 2023.