Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit has formally initiated action against Inspector Elton Taliana, seeking his dismissal, Times of Malta is informed.

In a list of charges submitted to the Public Service Commission, Mr Taliana is being accused of “tarnishing the reputation of the police force” through his actions when he failed to inform his superiors that he was arraigning a suspect when he knew that another person had been wrongly arraigned by two CID inspectors.

“In my opinion, these are serious breaches, which can lead to dismissal from the force,” the Police Commissioner said in the charge sheet presented.

He is also accusing Mr Taliana of negligence in his duties and acting in a disorderly manner.

The Police Board last month chastised Mr Taliana for failing to alert his chain of command about a mistake originally made by the CID, which charged an innocent man with committing a hold up at a Birkirkara confectionary shop.

Darryl Luke Borg, 27, was charged with the hold up by Police Inspectors Joseph Mercieca and Carlos Cordina and remanded in custody.

However, a few days later, Mr Taliana found out Roderick Grech had committed the crime.

Mr Grech later pleaded guilty and was given a suspended prison sentence.

The Police Commissioner said last week that the two CID inspectors who arraigned the wrong person would be facing internal disciplinary action but did not give further details.

Mr Taliana, through his lawyers, challenged the conclusions of the Police Board and argued that his lack of communication had little or no bearing on the duration of time the wrongly arraigned person spent in jail, because the mistake was flagged in court when the real culprit was charged.

The Nationalist Opposition has described the board’s findings as “a travesty of justice”, accusing the Government of political interference in the police force through a politically appointed Police Commissioner.

Both Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia and Mr Zammit denied any political motives.