Talks between the government and the Eden leisure Group on a new casino licence concession can proceed following the lifting of an injunction by the courts.

Dragonara Gaming Ltd, which is accusing the government of conducting a vitiated adjudication process, last month filed a court case against the Economy Ministry and the Privatisation Unit to stop them from proceeding with the negotiations. The company claimed that the process lacked transparency and the government had chosen Eden Leisure over its bid, despite its bid having a higher one-time offer value.

The court had temporarily upheld the injunction but it ruled this morning that the submission by Dragonara does not satisfy all the requisites at law to prohibit the government from continuing with the process.

Mr Justice Joseph R Micallef did not enter into the merits of the case but said Dragonara coould still use other legal avenues to protect its interests and acquire remedies.

During the hearing of the court case it transpired that a technical evaluation process was dissolved mid-way through the process on the direct instructions of Economy Minister Chris Cardona.

Mr Cardona admitted his intervention but said that this was necessary as there were appointees who had a conflict of interest. He said that following the court case he would reveal who were these people.