A Court of Appeal yesterday ordered a man to pay the former Director General of the Contracts Department Joseph Spiteri Lm500 in damages, overruling a previous court decision which declared allegations as “fair comment”.

Mr Spiteri sued Frank Farrugia for libel over comments he passed on the awarding of the medical equipment contract for the Mater Dei Hospital. Mr Farrugia passed these comments on 8 January 2004 during a programme on Smash Television.

In his defence submissions, Mr Farrugia said that the comments he made were in light of an urgent Contracts Committee meeting held on Boxing Day and the minister’s press conference on New Year’s Eve in 2003.

The First Hall of the Civil Court declared Mr Farrugia’s comments as “fair comment” and said that he did not have enough time to investigate and check his claims before uttering them.

But Mr Spiteri appealed the decision claiming that the court’s application of the fair comment principle was unsustainable at law. He argued that fair comments have to be true.

In his judgement handed down yesterday, Mr Justice Philip Sciberras, presiding over the Court of Appeal, said Mr Farrugia, although having admitted in court that he was wrong, must be held responsible for the comments he passed, especially if these impinged on Mr Spiteri’s reputation. He therefore ordered Mr Farrugia to pay Mr Spiteri Lm500 in damages.

Dr Aaron Mifsud Bonnici and Dr Michael Sciriha appeared for Mr Spiteri while Dr Raphael Fenech Adami appeared for Mr Farrugia.