Former Home Affairs chief of staff Silvio Scerri did not give the order to terminate TV presenter Norman Vella’s deployment with public broadcaster PBS, PBS CEO Anton Attard told a court today. 

Mr Attard told magistrate Francesco Depasquale that the order to terminate Mr Vella’s deployment came from the Home Affairs permanent secretary Kevin Mahoney.

Mr Attard was testifiying during libel proceedings instituted by Mr Scerri against tv presenter John Bundy after Mr Bundy claimed he heard Mr Scerri issuing the order the order for the deployment to be terminated.

Mr Attard said he did not remember ever specifically discussing Mr Vella’s termination at PBS with Mr Scerri.

In his testimony before the Employment Commission last year, Mr Bundy said he was at the Home Affairs ministry when he heard Mr Scerri give the order for Mr Vella to be transferred from PBS back to his previous job at the immigration department.

Mr Bundy said Mr Scerri was speaking to “Anton” at the time. Anton Attard denies this, and Mr Scerri filed for libel proceedings over a local newspaper report on the matter published last year.

Questioned whether as the chief of staff at the Home Affairs ministry Mr Scerri would involve himself in redeployments, Mr Attard said Mr Vella’s deployment with PBS and the revocation 9 months later was a civil service internal mechanism.

The case continues in June.

Lawyer Edward Gatt is representing Mr Scerri while lawyer Robert Abela appeared for Mr Bundy.