Lawyer Wee Yeong Kang, who appeared for both appellants, said the new date was fixed during case management today before deputy registrar Suhaila Haron.

“Last week, we received a letter from the court registry that the March 13 hearing date has been rescheduled,” he told FMT, adding that the appeal will be heard online.

Wee said parties have been instructed to file their written submissions by May 30.

The former prime minister and his son are appealing against the summary judgment obtained by the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) for tax arrears of RM1.7 billion from them.

Two separate High Courts had allowed LHDN’s applications to enter the judgments to recover RM1.69 billion from Najib and RM37.6 million from Nazifuddin, respectively, for the period between 2011 and 2017.

A summary judgment is obtained when a court decides based on affidavits filed that a defendant has no defence to a claim and there are no issues which warrant the testimony of witnesses at a full trial.

Both Najib and Nazifuddin lost their initial appeals in the Court of Appeal on the summary judgment in September 2021.

On May 10 last year, the Federal Court granted the duo leave to pursue the appeals in the Federal Court.

Litigants in civil cases must first obtain leave before they can proceed with the appeals in the Federal Court.

Najib and Nazifuddin’s appeals will be determined by the Federal Court based on nine questions of law.

Senior revenue counsel Al-Hummidallah Idrus, Ainur Mardhiah Ramli and Qhistina Apandi represented LHDN while Kelly Choo appeared for the Bar Council.