KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin denied that he defamed former finance minister Lim Guan Eng over his remarks on the revocation of Al-Bukhary Foundation's tax exemption.
The Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman said he was just explaining his position in relation to the investigation carried out into him by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) involving the Jana Wibawa programme.
"The reference to the plaintiff (Lim) was in his capacity as the then finance minister and being the minister in charge of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), and not in his personal capacity as an individual.
"The impugned statements meant that the tax exemption granted to Al-Bukhary Foundation by prior administrator was not honoured by the IRB, during the tenure of the plaintiff as finance minister.
"The defendant was requesting the plaintiff to explain what had in fact happened and whether the IRB, under the purview of the plaintiff at the time, did in fact cancel and refuse to honour the tax exemption granted to the Al-Bukhary Foundation."
Muhyiddin said this in his defence statement over Lim's defamation case against him.
The DAP chairman filed the suit on March 27 and named the Bersatu president as the sole defendant.
On March 9, Muhyiddin had, in a statement after being investigated by the MACC, alleged that the Pakatan Harapan government had revoked the tax exemption for the foundation.
The Pagoh member of parliament, claimed that Lim, during his tenure as finance minister, was responsible for the revocation.
Lim, the Bagan MP, in his statement of claim, said the impugned statement was aimed at achieving cheap publicity and at the same time deflect public attention by pushing unjustified and false claims against him.
He claimed that the statement also portrayed him as a vindictive person and had acted in bad faith by abusing his power.
The statement claimed that the Finance Ministry on March 23 had issued a press release and confirmed that neither the former finance minister nor its officers had revoked the tax exemption status accorded to Yayasan Al-Bukhary.
Lim said Muhyiddin had acted maliciously when he published the impugned statement to deflect public attention from the fact that he was facing criminal charges for corruption, abuse of power and money laundering.
He is seeking a public apology from Muhyiddin and a retraction of the defamatory statements made against him.
He is also seeking general, aggravated, and punitive damages, which are to be assessed and determined by the court.
He also wants the court to issue an injunction to restrain the defendant from issuing or publishing the statements.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had said that Lim, during his tenure as finance minister, never revoked Al-Bukhary Foundation's tax-exempt status.
Anwar said this was based on records at the ministry, which showed that approval was given only on Feb 25, 2021, in an extraordinary circumstance involving Yayasan Al-Bukhary and the Al-Bukhary Group.