A judge yesterday lifted a temporary injunction on negotiations taking place between the government and the Eden Leisure Group over a new casino licence, ruling that the rival company objecting to the talks had other remedies it could pursue.

Mr Justice Joseph Micallef ruled an injunction was disproportionate when one considered that Dragonara Gaming Ltd could resort to other legal avenues if it wanted to prove the process of granting the concession was vitiated from the start.

Moreover, he said, if negotiations between the Privatisation Unit and Eden Leisure did not have a positive outcome, Dragonara Gaming could still enter into discussions on the concession.

Dragonara placed second to Eden when it tendered for the 10-year licence concession, despite its upfront bid exceeding Eden’s by €3 million. The government had granted Eden preferred bidder status because of the prospect of higher long-term benefits.

Objecting, Dragonara won a temporary injunction against the Economy Ministry and the Privatisation Unit, claiming the process lacked transparency and asking the court to stop them from going ahead with their negotiations.

The unit and the government denied the claims, saying Dragonara wanted to prevent competition in the sector. It already operates a casino in St Julian’s and Eden Leisure wants to open a one at the nearby Intercontinental Hotel.

Yesterday the court ruled the temporarily upheld request did not satisfy all the requisites at law.

In his decision, Mr Justice Micallef said that before issuing an injunction, the court had to ascertain that what a party was being stopped from doing would be detrimental to the party seeking the injunction.

In this case, although Dragonara had sufficiently proven it had a legitimate interest and concern, the need for an injunction was not satisfactorily proven.

Two weeks ago, the court heard Economy Minister Chris Cardona had ordered the dissolution of the unit’s technical committee halfway through the evaluation of the bids. Privatisation Unit chairman Manuel Camilleri said this was due to conflict of interest concerns.

Attorney General Peter Grech told the court the minister had the right to ensure the process under his watch was conducted properly.

Dr Cardona said his intervention had been necessary and he would reveal those with a conflict of interest after the court case was over.