The Labour Party believes the government should abandon its fresh plea to drop the National Bank court case, which has dragged on for more than 35 years.

“We are sceptical of such a move and think this is a technical point that was raised too late in the day. It would be better for this plea to be dropped so the courts can reach an independent decision,” a Labour spokesman said.

The Attorney General’s plea, filed in 2010, was only revealed in the last edition of The Sunday Times in an interview with a representative of the largest corporate shareholder of the National Bank of Malta, B. Tagliaferro and Sons.

Milica Micovic, a director of the Tagliaferro family business, accused the Nationalist government of being an “accomplice” with the Dom Mintoff regime whom she accused of short-changing her family and about 300 other shareholders.

The case goes back to 1973 when, after an unexplained run on the bank, shareholders were allegedly coerced to hand over their shares for nothing to Mr Mintoff’s Labour government, who later replaced the National Bank with Bank of Valletta.

The government’s plea, filed on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, claims that the court case that started in 1977 was “time-barred” because it was filed after the allowed two-year time window.

The move has sparked outrage among former shareholders who have long expected Nationalist administrations to fulfil their promise to deliver justice.

The government has not answered questions about the plea, saying only that while the government took note of the strong feelings of the shareholders and their heirs, “no minister could usurp the function of the courts”.

“The courts have been asked, by the shareholders themselves, to rule on various aspects of the National Bank issue and the government will adhere to the court’s judgement,” a Finance Ministry spokesman said.

“Since the various cases filed by the shareholders are pending and the courts now have to deliver judgement, it is imprudent to comment further.”

Former Nationalist Party president Frank Portelli lambasted the government’s plea to drop the case, saying the PN had a “moral obligation” to see justice was done or else face the consequences.

“The government is giving the impression that it is trying to avoid awarding compensation on a technicality, which is manifestly wrong. The government must act as the ideal father. Even if it can drop the case on legal grounds, it will have no moral basis. We are not talking about legalities here, we are talking about justice,” he said.

“This is all the more so when there are so many political ramifications stemming from the past when the PN was in opposition.”

He said it would be best for the government to appoint some negotiators to come up with a fair out-of-court settlement and present convincing workings to the shareholders.

The government, as the majority shareholder, should have also intervened in the Bank of Valletta La Valette Fund case in which about 2,000 families lost their savings after joining a fund meant for professional investors.

Nationalist MP Robert Arrigo felt the National Bank saga was a “complex and complicated” issue and negotiations could only be finalised once the shareholders emerged with a united stand. As the Finance Minister’s parliamentary assistant, he was tasked with broaching an out-of-court agreement between both sides in 2010.

He said the government was willing to “meet, listen and find a solution” but there was never a common front presented by the shareholders. In his experience, he said, the government acted in good faith.

The shareholders will be meeting this month to come up with a unified stand in the hope that a deal could be struck.

Meanwhile, Labour has steered clear of committing to an out-of-court settlement if elected to government.

“A new government would let justice take its course and respect a final decision taken by the courts,” the spokesman said.

President Emeritus Eddie Fenech Adami, who was elected Prime Minister in 1987 on a slogan of Work, Justice and Liberty, was also contacted about the matter.

Back then, according to Ms Micovic, future Nationalist MPs and ministers had assured her family and other shareholders that justice would be done if the PN was elected.

Dr Fenech Adami said his government never took “sides” and, once elected, decided to adhere to the normal justice process, seeing the cases had already been filed.

“What is unfortunate is that it is never-ending,” he said when asked whether the government’s fresh plea fitted into this view of letting the cases go ahead.

Asked if the government should seek an out-of-court settlement, he said this would be “pretty difficult”.

Shareholders have been awaiting judgement since November 2010 but sentencing was put off seven times over the past two years and is now expected on September 27.