Nicola Sturgeon faces being questioned in court as part of Alex Salmond's £3m legal action against the Scottish Government over its botched investigation into sexual misconduct claims.

As first reported by the Herald, Mr Salmond has launched a civil action for damages and loss of earnings at the Court of Session, where the case was formally “called” today.

It alleges there was a concerted effort at the top of the Government to smear Mr Salmond for political reasons and then a cover-up.

The action means Mr Salmond could try to air previously secret documents he was unable to introduce into evidence in his separate criminal trial.

His lawyer said a major aim of the action was “to obtain disclosure of this vital evidence and to blow apart the Scottish Government cover-up which has gone on now for far too long”.        

The former SNP leader and first minister said the case would be sisted, or paused, pending ongoing police investigations.

However he said a “day of reckoning” for the Scottish Government was “inevitable”.

READ MORE: Alex Salmond launches £3m legal action against Scottish Government

He is alleging “misfeasance in public office” by civil servants over the botched investigation into two sexual misconduct claims made against him in 2018.

Mr Salmond challenged the Government’s probe in a judicial review, proving it had been unfair, unlawful, and “tainted by apparent bias”, winning £512,000 in legal costs.

He was cleared of 14 counts of sexual assault after a two-week criminal trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in 2020.

A subsequent Holyrood inquiry looked into the Government’s mishandling of the original two complaints against Mr Salmond, uncovering a catalogue of errors.

Mr Salmond claimed a group of people around Ms Sturgeon had conspired to destroy his reputation and should lose their jobs.

In March 2021, he said he intended to raise a legal action against the Scottish Government as he considered none of those he blamed for his mistreatment had taken responsibility for their actions.

He was particularly critical of the Government’s then most senior official, the Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, as the architect and overseer of the complaints process under which he was investigated by civil servants.

The affair led to a bitter falling out with Ms Sturgeon, his former friend and protegee, and in spring 2021 he founded the Alba party as a pro-independence alternative to the SNP. 

He initiated his legal action at the Court of Session last year but did not publicise it.

However, after a private hearing before Lord Fairley on Thursday, the case has now been called at Court, bringing its existence into the public domain.

In a statement, Mr Salmond said: “Throughout this tawdry business I have done my talking in court or in front of Parliament. 

“That has resulted in victory in the Court of Session and being cleared of all charges in the High Court of Justiciary. I intend to continue with that practice.

“Despite Lord Pentland’s findings in the Court of Session [at judicial review] that the behaviour of the former Permanent Secretary and her officials was 'unlawful', 'unfair' and 'tainted by apparent bias', despite the ongoing police and crown office enquiries... despite the astonishing revelations of misfeasance contained in the eventual publication of the government’s own legal advice, and despite the specific findings of the Parliamentary Inquiry into the conduct of the former Permanent Secretary and the former First Minister, not one single person has been held accountable. 

“With this court action that evasion of responsibility ends.

"We have agreed to the sisting of proceedings to allow the criminal investigations into [potential] leaking and perjury to be completed.

"However, the calling of the action signals that the day of reckoning for the Scottish Government’s record of misfeasance on this grand scale will inevitably come.”

The Herald:

Mr Salmond’s lawyer, Solicitor Advocate Gordon Dangerfield, said: “This is an action of misfeasance in public office in which we aver that public officials of the Scottish Government conducted themselves improperly, in bad faith and beyond their powers, with the intention of injuring Mr Salmond. 

“The public officials and Ministers named in our action include, among others, the former Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans… and the former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

“We aver that public officials decided at an early stage that Mr Salmond was to be found guilty of allegations against him, regardless of the actual facts. 

“As events snowballed, we aver that public officials then took part in the criminal leaking of confidential documents, the concealment of documents in defiance of court orders and a criminal warrant, the misleading of the court during judicial review proceedings, the soliciting of false criminal complaints, and ultimately the commission of perjury at a parliamentary inquiry.

"All of this, we aver, was done for political reasons, and specifically to injure Mr Salmond.

“Many documents which are relevant to these averments continue to be concealed by the Scottish Government despite repeated requests for disclosure of them over the course of the last year since this action was first raised. 

“We aver that this refusal to disclose is a continuation of the misfeasance which began more than five years ago. 

“A major aim of Mr Salmond in bringing this action is to obtain disclosure of this vital evidence and to blow apart the Scottish Government cover-up which has gone on now for far too long.”        

Mr Salmond’s team quibbled with the £3m figure given in today’s Herald story, saying it was not the figure cited in the petition, although they did not give that figure.

However the Herald remains confident that the damages sought are in the region of £3m.

A spokesman for Mr Salmond said: “It will be for the Court to determine damages once the case on misfeasance has been won. They will be significant.”

A spokesperson for Ms Sturgeon said: "Nicola utterly refutes Salmond’s claims, as she has always done.

"She answered questions before a parliamentary committee for eight hours in 2021, and was also investigated and cleared by the independent advisor on the ministerial code.

“Salmond’s actions are a matter for him, and the conduct of the case is a matter for the Scottish Government.” 

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on live litigation.”