Court issues stay order on earlier MVR 4m ruling against Azima

The Civil Court has issued a stay order on a ruling it issued in January ordering former attorney general Aishath Azima Shakoor to pay MVR 4.1 million to the Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) for failure to repay a loan.

The order was issued on Sunday, in response to a petition filed by Azima seeking a revision of the original ruling.

According to the court, the ruling will remain suspended until it makes a decision on revising its ruling.

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, but the petition was rejected.

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 in January, 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.