High Court rejects appeal of MVR 4m ruling against Azima

The High Court has rejected the appeal filed by former attorney general Aishath Azima Shakoor, contesting a Civil Court ruling issued in early January, ordering her to pay MVR 4 million for failure to repay a loan she took from the Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB).

The High Court confirmed its decision to reject the appeal on Tuesday.

Azima was ordered her to pay MVR 4 million in outstanding loan payments and penalties on January 2, following a lawsuit filed against her by the MIB.

Court documents show that in 2016, Azima was issued a loan of MVR 3.1 million, for which she put down an apartment at the Platinum Residence in Hulhumale’ as collateral.

The court found Azima failed to make regular payments for the loan as agreed, and ordered her to pay MVR 4.1 million in outstanding loan payments and penalties to the MIB, within six months.

The ruling was issued against Azima in absentia.

She appealed the ruling with the High Court on January 9.

Azima has previously stated that she was unable to repay the loan because of the court case filed against her during the previous administration, which she said hindered her ability to earn a living by practicing law.

She also expressed concern that the ruling had come while she had been in talks with the bank to restructure the loan.

The ruling had come ahead of the Male’ City mayoral by-elections, which Azima contested on behalf of the main ruling PNC.

Though considered one of the frontrunners for the election, she lost to the main opposition MDP candidate, Adam Azim, by a huge margin.