This archive report was first published on 2 November 2019.
The High Court in Nairobi has ruled in favor of Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in a case filed by Suzan General Trading JLT, a Dubai-based company.
On October 31, 2019, Justice Weldon Korir dismissed with costs the petition filed by Suzan General Trading JLT on October 2, 2019, seeking to stop KRA from collecting Sh2.3 billion in tax debts from its affiliate company, Diplomatic Duty Free Limited (DDF), registered and operating in Kenya.
The company had alleged that the action by KRA enforcing the warrants and distress notices issued on July 9, 2018, and September 30, 2019, respectively, to recover a tax debt owed by DDF were unconstitutional and in breach of its fundamental rights and freedoms.
However, KRA's position was that Suzan General Trading JLT's case was res judicata because the petitioner had previously filed Judicial Review Proceedings in Nairobi HC Misc. Civil Application No. 287 of 2018, which case had been struck out on September 23, 2019, on the ground that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the dispute.
As a result, the court held that the issues and reasons why the petition was brought before the court were the same ones which had been canvassed in the judicial review proceedings, and consequently, the court ordered the petitioner to pay costs to KRA.
