Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has yet to be declared bankrupt over his failure to pay RM1.69 billion in additional income tax arrears to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), according to his counsel.

Lawyer Wee Yeong Kang told reporters that High Court deputy registrar Ida Rahayu Sharif informed the parties concerned that the act of bankruptcy against Najib has not yet occurred even though revenue counsel Athari Faris Ammerry Hussein, who acted for IRB, asked for the act of bankruptcy to be recorded by the court immediately.

"We objected to the IRB application (for the act of bankruptcy to be recorded) due to incorrectness and misguidance of rules that govern...