The constitutional case filed by Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco against the Prime Minister and the Commission for the Administration of Justice was deferred yesterday at the request of the Government’s lawyers.

When he testified in the case last month, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said that an impeachment motion moved against him was “politically motivated”.

The impeachment motion had been moved by former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi following a decision by the International Olympic Committee’s Ethics Commission relating allegations over the sale of tickets by national Olympic committees, including the one in Malta, which Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco chairs.

During a Constitutional Court sitting yesterday, lawyers representing the Prime Minister and the Attorney General, acting on “instructions from above”, asked for the case to be put off.

Lawyer Louis Cassar Pullicino, appearing for the Prime Minister, confirmed these instructions were issued by the current Administration when asked by the judge’s lawyer, David Farrugia Sacco.

The Times is informed that the next meeting of the Commission for the Administration of Justice is scheduled for Monday.

When he was still Leader of the Opposition, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had said that he would abide by any decision taken by the Commission for the Administration of Justice, adding that Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco should have withdrawn temporarily from the Bench until the impeachment case against him was over.

Some years ago, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco had been asked to resign from the post of president of the Malta Olympic Committee as this was deemed incompatible with his role as judge and went against the judiciary’s code of ethics.

Efforts to contact the Prime Minister’s spokesman for an official reaction proved futile.