The Scottish Government has notified court officials it intends to contest Alex Salmond’s legal action over its handling of sexual harassment allegations made against him.
Two complaints were raised in January against the former first minister, who strongly denies the allegations, and he was informed of an investigation in March.
Mr Salmond is taking court action against the Scottish Government to contest the complaints process activated against him.
The former first minister claims he has been denied “natural justice” and has demanded an inquiry into how details of the probe were leaked.
His petition for a judicial review was lodged at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in late August.
Just days later, the former first minister and Gordon MP resigned from the SNP after 45 years to avoid “internal division” within the party.
On the night of his resignation on August 29, Mr Salmond launched a crowdfunding campaign to help meet costs of his legal challenge against the Scottish Government – and hit his target within hours.
In his resignation statement he said: “My intention is to secure fairness, because that is necessary to clear my name.”
But the Scottish Government said it is confident its processes are “legally sound”.
In a statement released yesterday, a spokesman said: “The Scottish Government has this afternoon formally notified the Court of Session of our intention to contest the judicial review being brought by Mr Salmond.
“As we have said previously, we are confident our processes are legally sound and we will vigorously defend our position.
“There are a number of inaccuracies in Mr Salmond’s public statements and we will address those matters in court.”
