Public Broadcasting Services, the state broadcaster has accused the broadcasting watchdog of violating natural justice when it issued charges and imposed a fine about a weekly TV chat show.

PBS was fined for breaching political impartiality rules through an edition of Bondìplus last March.

The station said in a judicial protest it had been found guilty on charges issued by the Broadcasting Authority (BA), based on a monitoring report drawn up by the regulator itself and then fined following proceedings held by the same authority.

This went against natural justice and against the principles of a fair trial.

The programme was about the government's activities over the previous two years when the only guest was Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg. This, according to the BA, had broken impartiality rules.

PBS said the decision indicated that the BA had gone beyond its parameters as laid down in the Constitution. In fact, it had failed to use its own guiding principles about political impartiality. The BA had also failed to consider the relevant facts of the case, the programme structure and the impartiality of the programme over the whole series, the national broadcasting station argued.

The decision placed extreme limitations on the station that went beyond those placed on it by law, the protest said.

PBS asked the court to declare the BA decision null and order that the fine of €1,165 be refunded.