A police superintendent found to be the victim of a defective process that excluded him from being promoted to assistant commissioner has blocked a fresh call for the post.

According to an ombudsman’s ruling, Raymond D’Anastas was discriminated against when he was not chosen for the role in 2016, despite four decades of service and an impeccable track record.

But D’Anastas is now arguing that the fresh call, issued earlier this month, is also unfair and has accused the police commissioner of delays in atoning for the injustice.

In an application for an injunction – which Madam Justice Joanne Vella Cuschieri temporarily upheld – D’Anastas said that the fresh call was discriminatory in his regard, given the inclusion of a requirement that anyone who applied for the promotion must have experience investigating financial crime.

In May, Ombudsman Anthony Mifsud recommended that Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà issue a fresh call for the post and ordered him to compensate D’Anastas with €15,000 as moral damages in default.

'A parody of a section process'

He had ruled that the man behind the 2016 decision to favour certain individuals over others was former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar and that he led “a parody of a selection process”, choosing people promoted to the new grade on the basis of personal trust rather than according to the manual on which such a process should be based.

In three separate rulings, he described the promotions exercise as “vitiated” and “defective”.

D’Anastas said he was on pre-retirement leave before his definitive retirement in January next year and would have retired by the end of the fresh process, making it impossible for him to be promoted to assistant commissioner.

He said that two days before the call expired, he received a phone call from the police human resources department and was told that he had “orders from above” to call him and others who were eligible to apply for the post to inform them that they could apply.

D’Anastas said he decided to apply for the post to safeguard his interests.

He said the timing of the call as well as the extra condition that whoever applied had to have experience in the investigation of financial crimes was restrictive and discriminatory in his regard.

He, therefore, called on the court to stop the process.

Lawyer David Bonello signed the application.