An attempt by lawyer Jason Azzopardi to have a magisterial inquiry into Economy Minister Silvio Schembri has been turned down a second time.

A first attempt had been rejected a few weeks ago, prompting the former Nationalist MP to file an appeal. This was dismissed on Friday by Mr Justice Neville Camilleri.

In his court application, filed at the end of last year, Azzopardi claimed that land was deliberately undervalued to favour private developers, costing taxpayers millions of euros. 

Azzopardi alleged the pattern of undervalued sales points to a systemic issue requiring urgent investigation.

In his request, Azzopardi also questioned the minister's unexplained wealth and how he could afford a high-end lifestyle on a minister's salary.

He emphasised that only a magisterial inquiry can secure critical evidence, including financial records and communications.

Azzopardi quoted media reports in his court application, most of which were published by The Shift News without a byline. The court concluded that the reports did not clearly allege criminal conduct.

In his reply, Schembri had presented a written declaration by Ivan Camilleri, in which the journalist declared that he was the author of the articles and had been "satisfied" with explanations provided by the minister about the allegations made.

Azzopardi had objected claiming the court had unfairly allowed the minister to make submissions without giving him the opportunity to respond. He filed an appeal against the original decision.

In Friday's judgement, the court dismissed Azzopardi's objections, finding no grounds to overturn the original decision.

The court said it was "perfectly acceptable" for a request for a magisterial inquiry to be based on media reports, a request which the reform proposed by the government would prohibit.

In this particular case, however, the reports in question had not cited specific crimes which the minister was alleged to have committed, at most indicating poor administration.

In a post on Facebook, the minister said that the courts had again ruled that allegations made against him and his family were frivolous. The court had said that there was no indication that he had been involved in any crime, he said, thbaking all those who stood by him.