The Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) had unlawfully frozen the account of former MP Abdulla Jabir's Yacht Tours Maldives.
The Supreme Court quashed the decision of the Civil Court and the High Court and said MIRA had frozen the accounts in violation of legal norms.
The case was heard by a three-member bench with Justices Mohamed Ibrahim, Azmiralda Zahir and Aisha Shujune Muhammad.
According to the opinion held by Justice Azmiralda who presided over the bench, the decision that MIRA has the authority to take actions under the Tax Administration Act despite an agreement between the Tourism Ministry and Yacht Tours regarding the payment of resort rent was wrong.
“As in this case, when the contracts unambiguously and clearly define the action to be taken in the event of non-payment of rent, there is no legal reason why any other remedy introduced by regulation by one of the parties to the contract should run over the contracts,” her opinion stated.
The agreement reads that in case of non-payment of rent, Yacht Tours will have to pay at the rate of 0.5 percent of the unpaid amount daily. The opinion also noted that the Tourism Ministry had the power to cancel the agreement if the rent and penalty were not paid regularly.
Justices Mohamed Ibrahim and Aisha Shujune Muhammad supported the opinion.
