The Home Affairs Ministry is unperturbed by the conclusions of an inquiry report that did not rule out a link between Cyrus Engerer’s resignation from the Nationalist Party and police charges filed against him.

“The conclusions of the inquiry clearly indicate there was no irregularity in the process and that the police acted in the right manner because the case against Mr Engerer was a clear one,” a ministry spokesman said when asked what action will be taken in view of the findings.

Judge Albert Manché was tasked by the government to look into allegations of abuse of power, negligence or undue pressure, spanning all the facts of the case after the Labour Party claimed that Mr Engerer was victimised when he defected from the PN.

The case goes back to January 2010 when Marvic Camilleri reported his suspicion to the police that his former boyfriend, Mr Engerer, had stolen compromising pictures from his computer and was distributing them to various people, including his employer.

Judge Manché noted that the police Cyber Crime Unit concluded its investigation in March last year when it established how the pictures were transmitted from Mr Engerer’s former resid-ence. The police could not immediately question Mr Engerer because he was abroad and, eventually, Mr Camilleri told them he had lost interest in the case but never formally withdrew the case.

The police then questioned Mr Engerer more than a year later. On July 9, during the Gay Pride parade, Mr Engerer asked a police inspector to expedite his case.

On July 15 he resigned from the PN and, subsequently, joined the PL. Ten days later, the police filed charges against him in court, including over computer misuse and distribution of pornography. The Times reported the charges the following day.

Judge Manché said that, on completion of their investigations in March last year, the police could have instituted court proceedings against Mr Engerer. “Inevitably, one has to conclude that the police dragged their feet before July 15, 2011 and hurried in their proceedings against Cyrus Engerer afterwards and that Cyrus Engerer’s resignation was the reason why the police hurried in their filing of the charges after so many delays,” the judge said.

The ministry has latched on to Judge Manché’s other conclusion that there was no evidence of irregularity because the police had “sufficient basis to proceed against Cyrus Engerer ”.

The spokesman insisted that while Judge Manché could not find an explanation for the delay in the charges being pressed, he concluded “there were no grounds for political motivation and that the police were not pressured into acting in any particular manner”.

When asked whether the minister would be asking Police Commissioner John Rizzo for an explanation and whether he felt Mr Rizzo’s position was tenable, the spokesman replied: “May I remind you that it was the Police Commissioner himself who requested the inquiry, which was immediately acceded to by this ministry.”

The Times sent Mr Rizzo a set of questions yesterday. They were still unanswered by the time of writing.