It was not former Home Affairs chief of staff Silvio Scerri who ordered the termination of TV presenter Norman Vella’s deployment with the public broadcaster, chief executive Anton Attard said in court yesterday.

He told Magistrate Francesco Depasquale that the order to terminate Mr Vella’s deployment came from the permanent secretary at the time, Kevin Mahoney.

Mr Attard was testifying in libel proceedings instituted by Mr Scerri against another television presenter, John Bundy, who claimed he heard Mr Scerri issuing the order for the termination of Mr Vella’s deployment.

In his testimony before the Employment Commission last year, Mr Bundy said he was at the Home Affairs Ministry when he heard Mr Scerri give the order for Mr Vella to be transferred from PBS back to his previous job at the immigration department.

Mr Bundy said Mr Scerri was speaking to “Anton” at the time. Mr Attard denied this and Mr Scerri filed for libel proceedings over a story that appeared on Times of Malta last year.

Mr Vella worked as an immigration official, but before being redeployed to his airport posting after the last general election, he was granted unpaid leave to work in broadcasting.

He first worked for Where’s Everybody and then presented a programme, TV Hemm, on the national television station.

Following the termination, Mr Vella contested the European Parliament elections on behalf of the Nationalist Party and now presents a daily programme on the PN’s Net Television.

Asked whether, as chief of staff, Mr Scerri could have involved himself in this issue, Mr Attard said the deployment with PBS and its revocation, which took place a few months later, was the result of “a civil service internal mechanism”.

Mr Attard could not recall any specific phone calls with Mr Scerri where Mr Vella was the topic of discussion.

The case will continue in June. Lawyer Edward Gatt is representing Mr Scerri, while lawyer Robert Abela is appearing for Mr Bundy.